Four-time semi-finalist James Wade crashed out of the World Darts Championship at the first hurdle as he was thrashed 3-0 by Jermaine Wattimena.
Wade, the 16th seed, won the first leg of the round two contest at Alexandra Palace, but lost the next eight in succession as Wattimena turned on the style.
The Dutchman hit a superb 126 finish to move within one leg of victory and although Wade held his nerve to hit double 20 with his last dart to stay alive, the left-hander crucially missed four darts at double 10 in the next leg.
WATTIMENA WALLOPS WADE! 🇳🇱
Jermaine Wattimena's sensational form continues!
The Dutchman dispatches four-time semi-finalist James Wade in straight sets, as Wade suffers another early exit at Ally Pally!
📺 https://t.co/pIQvhqYxEj #WCDarts | R2 pic.twitter.com/hYNYAhg81b— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2024
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Wattimena, who reached the final of the European Championship in October, made no such mistake on double eight to seal a quickfire win.
England’s Luke Woodhouse enjoyed a 3-0 victory over Lourence Ilagan in the first round, although he was booed for turning down a chance at the highest possible checkout.
Woodhouse, who won the first seven legs in succession before Ilagan finally got off the mark with a 103 finish, needed 170 to complete victory and hit successive treble 20s, but refused to go for the bull.
The crowd made their feelings known but Woodhouse had the last laugh as he took out 32 on his next visit to seal a comfortable victory.
Germany’s Kai Gotthardt overcame a broken dart as he marked his tournament debut with a 3-1 win over Scotland’s Alan Soutar.
The barrel of one of Gotthardt’s darts snapped in half during the fourth leg of the first set, won by Soutar, but Gotthardt stormed back to take the next three sets in succession.
In the first match of the day, Holland’s Wesley Plaisier recovered from 2-1 down to beat Japan’s Ryusei Azemoto 3-2 and set up a second-round meeting with former champion Peter Wright.
