Van Gerwen through to round two at PDC Worlds

Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen said he was “made to work really hard” by Japanese debutant Mitsuhiko Tatsunami for his first-round victory at the PDC World Championship.

The 36-year-old Dutchman, who was beaten in last year’s final by Luke Littler, was a set and two legs down to Tatsunami.

But the world number three turned that set around and comfortably moved into a 2-1 lead.

Van Gerwen then won a nervy fourth set which went the distance, with Tatsunami missing several chances to take the match into a deciding set.

“It was really difficult, I don’t know what happened,” Van Gerwen, who will face either William O’Connor or Krzysztof Kciuk next, said on stage. “My first dart was constantly underneath [the treble 20] or above.

“I was trying constantly and nothing really worked. I feel good but when you put yourself under pressure, it doesn’t make it any easier.

“His finishing was great, I wasn’t afraid of his scoring but when you score so badly and you don’t do what you are capable of, then you are going to annoy yourself and you have to deal with your own problems.

“I kept battling my own battle in this game. I shouldn’t put myself in that position.

“He’s not a bad player at all. He made me work really hard for that.”

Poor finishing proved costly for Fallon Sherrock as she exited the tournament with a straight-set defeat by 21st seed Dave Chisnall.

Sherrock, who in December 2019 became the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship, hit just three of her 23 attempts at doubles.

She had four darts at double top in the third-set decider to force a fourth set but missed those opportunities and Chisnall made her pay.

Dutch 19th seed Jermaine Wattimena avoided an early exit as he came from behind to beat Germany’s Dominik Gruellich 3-2.

Debutants David Munyua of Kenya and Motomu Sakai of Japan reached the second round during Thursday’s afternoon session.

Munyua caused a huge shock as he came from two sets down to beat world number 18 Mike de Decker.

Although Munyua had acquitted himself well on his first appearance at the tournament, an upset had looked extremely unlikely when the Belgian moved within one set of victory.

Munyua, who works as a vet, missed darts to win the second set, did the same in the third but eventually won it, edged the fourth and fought back to win the match in the fifth.

The 30-year-old, who qualified via the African Darts Group Qualifier, was broken in the first leg of the decider but produced an astounding outer bull-treble 20-bullseye 135 finish to level it, before holding his nerve to complete victory.

The defeat continued De Decker’s disappointing record at the World Championship, with the 2024 World Grand Prix winner yet to make it past the last 64 at six appearances at Alexandra Palace.

Sakai looked to have stolen the show earlier in the afternoon session as he beat Thibault Tricole of France in straight sets.

Sakai gained the support of the Alexandra Palace crowd with a long, exuberant walk-on and was a showman who played up to the fans throughout his match.

World number 24 Ryan Joyce produced a composed display to see off fellow Englishman Owen Bates, averaging 95.27 and hitting nine of his 14 attempts at double, while England’s Callan Rydz and Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski both won their first-round matches in straight sets.

The eight remaining first-round matches will be played across two sessions on Friday.

Beau Greaves, who topped the Women’s Series and will play on the main PDC tour from next year, will take on 22nd seed Daryl Gurney.

Josh Rock, who partnered Gurney to World Cup glory earlier this year representing Northern Ireland, and former World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall also begin their respective campaigns.

Afternoon results

Evening session

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