The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsThe first round of the 2016 PDC World Championship is over, and while most of the big names are safely through, there were a few upsets, as well as a few lucky escapes for some of the world’s best.
The world’s best player Michael van Gerwen can count himself lucky to still be in the competition after a narrow 3-2 victory over German Rene Eidams. Another well-known player who is lucky to find himself in the second is Mervyn King, who narrowly overcame Russian Aleksandr Oreshkin.
Defending champion Garry Anderson is safely through to the next round, as is Phil Taylor, the most successful player to have played in the competition. Jamie Caven, James Wade and Adrian Lewis are all safely round to the second round as well.
The biggest upset of the first round came when tenth seed Simon Whitlock, tipped by many to do well in the competition, found himself beaten 3-2 by Ricky Evans. Andy Hamilton is also out after he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Joe Murnam. Robert Thornton was also dumped out after a 3-0 thrashing by Alan Norris.
A number of other seeds such as John Henderson, Ian White, Kim Huybrechts, Dean Wistanley, Justin Pipe, Jamie Lewis and Brendan Dolan have also exited the competition after just one game. This year’s tournament is proving to be everything but predictable and there will no doubts be further shocks in the next round.
