German number two Ricardo Pietreczko emerged from an epic, pulse-racing encounter to send the perennial nearly-man of the PDC majors, Dave Chisnall, tumbling out of this year’s World Championship in a finish soaked in drama and disbelief.
We often borrow the tired football cliché of a game of two halves. On this occasion, it fits like a tailored suit. The opening act belonged entirely to Germany. The second half, all England’s. And the decisive paragraphs were written by nerve alone.
The first set will not trouble any future highlight reels, but it mattered all the same. Pietreczko manufactured enough chances, lingered longer in the danger zones, and edged it on merit. The second was far more emphatic. Chisnall, suddenly unable to locate the outer ring with a map and compass, watched as Pikachu punished every lapse and doubled his advantage with ruthless efficiency.
Then came the ignition.The St Helens slinger detonated into life, hurling maximums like Santa flinging gifts on Christmas Eve – five in total – dragging himself back into the contest with brute force and familiar firepower. Momentum swung. Confidence returned. A few breathless minutes later and the match was square, Chisnall storming through the fourth set without concession, the Ally Pally crowd rising in anticipation.We were heading for extra time – darts’ cruel equivalent of sudden death. The deciding set.
Anything could happen. And on paper, the wind was at England’s back. Chisnall had the momentum. He had the darts in leg one. He had the crowd roaring him home. But drama does not read scripts. Both men held their opening throws, though not without tremors. Doubles were stared down. Misses were inhaled rather than exhaled. The match slipped into must win by two clear legs territory, the irony delicious: had Chisnall held and then broken, it would have been 4–2 England after extra time.
Instead, the lightning struck yellow. Pietreczko found the break. One more hold would do it. And with a display of composure that belied both the moment and the magnitude, he delivered. No flinch. No fade. Just steel. The final dart landed, the upset was sealed, and Pikachu marched on to a third-round meeting with Andreas Harrysson.
The result underlines Germany’s impressive early surge at this year’s World Championship – and draws a painful line under a year best forgotten for Chisnall.
Before the match, Pietreczko had described his opponent as an up-and-down player. Brutal honesty, perhaps. But on this evidence, entirely accurate.Both versions of the man in yellow turned up. Sadly for Chizzy’s fans, neither survived.
In other news, the Dutch darting juggernaut has fallen. Dirk van Duijvenbode, all thunder, torque and volcanic intensity, crashed out of the World Championships after being edged in a breathless, nerve-shredding, last-leg decider by James Hurrell – a contest that swayed, twisted and ultimately snapped against the weight of the betting odds.
Perhaps not an earthquake of a shock – Hurrell, the Oxfordshire slinger, is no mug and no mere passenger at this level – but against the cold logic of the bookmakers, this was rebellion. The numbers tell you it was close. The eye test tells you it was war. Out of the traps, it was classic Dirk. Brutal. Efficient. Relentless.
He claimed the opening set while Hurrell, still shaking hands with the stage and reacquainting himself with the lights, looked momentarily lost in the whirlwind. Then came the break. And with it, transformation.What returned to the oche bore little resemblance to what had left it. Hurrell detonated, slapping a monstrous forty points onto his opening-set average and conjuring a jaw-dropping 115.63. Van Duijvenbode didn’t even sniff a double. The Hillbilly had arrived – and he was swinging.
Moments later, with Dirk suddenly mortal on the outer ring, Hurrell struck again and moved ahead. The match teetered back and forth, momentum changing hands like a live wire, until van Duijvenbode dragged the contest into a fifth and deciding set – exactly where champions are supposed to thrive. But Hurrell had other ideas. An early break. Then that finish. A champagne 132 checkout – bull, bull, double sixteen – the stuff of darting folklore, executed without a flicker of hesitation. Breathtaking.
There was a chance to ice it without reply, but two match darts were spurned, and Dirk, smelling oxygen, pounced to claw one leg back.No matter. When the door opened again, Hurrell walked straight through it. Tops pinned. Arms raised. One of the biggest victories of his career secured, written in tungsten and nerve.
Awaiting him after Christmas will be Stephen Bunting or the Indian qualifier Nitin Kumar – and suddenly, that prospect feels earned rather than daunting.
Earlier in the day, Ryan Searle became the first man to punch his ticket into round three, dispatching Brendan Dolan in straight sets with ruthless efficiency. Heavy Metal came out swinging, averaging north of the ton in each of the opening two sets and placing himself within touching distance of victory before Dolan had time to breathe. Even when the average dipped ever so slightly in the third, the finishing remained ice-cold.
Clinical. Merciless.Good power scoring. A staggering 64 percent success rate on the doubles. An all-round masterclass from the Devonian, who now awaits the winner of Keane Barry versus Martin Schindler – his Christmas already considerably merrier. The curtain then fell on the final member of the entertaining Japanese trio, as Motomu Sakai bowed out, whitewashed by Andreas Harrysson.
But do not mistake the scoreline for submission. Sakai leaves Ally Pally with memories that will last a lifetime – not least that stirring, crowd-pleasing victory over Thibault Tricole, when he lit up the Palace and sent the Frenchman packing. This time, though, it was the case of a Swede too far.
Statistically, there was little between them. The margins were cruelly fine. But Harrysson – Dirty Harry – fashioned more chances on the outer ring and, crucially, seized both sets that went the full five-leg distance. That is where matches are won. And lost.
Sakai exits with pride, applause, and a legion of new admirers. The bearded Swede, by contrast, will be back after Christmas – waiting, sharpening, ready for whoever fate decides to send his way. Such is the theatre of the Palace.
When Harrysson returns after the festivities, it’s Ricardo Pietreczko waiting in round three.
SATURDAY 20th DECEMBER – Saturday Afternoon Session
Ryan Searle 3-0 Brendan Dolan
Andreas Harrysson 3-0 Motomu Sakai
Dirk van Duijvendobe 2-3 James Hurrell
Dave Chisnall 2-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
—–Emds—–
Images: PDC
