• World Darts Championship

Super Chisnall stuns Taylor at Ally Pally

Dave Chisnall pulled off a shocking success against Phil Taylor © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Anderson sets up Whitlock showdown at Ally Pally
  
• News: Taylor won't retire despite shock defeat
  

Dave Chisnall caused a massive upset at the PDC World Darts Championship on Tuesday, as he knocked out 15-time champion Phil Taylor by a stunning 4-1 margin.

Chisnall was the faster player out of the blocks at Alexandra Palace but Taylor looked to be in the ascendancy when he evened the score at 1-1 - but Chisnall stunned everyone as he upped his game and ultimately ran away with a memorable victory.

"I don't know how I did that," Chisnall said afterwards, as he moved into the last-16. "I threw well all game - I got nervous in the end but now I'm over the moon.

"I always thought I could beat anyone if I played my game, so that was it for me. I'd never played him before on the big stage - but where else would you want to play him but on a big stage?"

Having fallen behind early on, Taylor claimed the second frame as neither player found their best darts - with both players averaging around 100 for the contest. But Chisnall upped his game - particularly when trying to check out - over the remainder of the match, as Taylor paid the ultimate price for just a 30% success rate on the doubles, compared to Chisnall's 45%.

With the score 2-2 in legs in the important fourth set, Taylor looked poised to level the match as he owned the throw. But Chisnall caused a decisive upset, firing a 180 at a crucial juncture to leave himself a double to finish, as Taylor faced an important three-dart out.

'The Power' was unable to get the second treble he needed, however, as Chisnall hit double-20 at the first time of asking to move 3-1 ahead - stunning the vocal crowd.

Taylor would need a mammoth comeback to progress, but Chisnall took the first leg of the fifth set with throw after a double-four checkout, despite earlier making a hash of a straightforward chance to set himself up for a finish. Taylor hit back immediately, however, finding 17 and then double-top as Chisnall remained well adrift. A 41 to start in the next thread gave Taylor an opening, and he took advantage with a 140 to begin. A 100 throw and another 140 gave him the first opportunity to finish, but he missed the bull after finding 20 and treble-17 as Chisnall escaped with a double-eight under extreme pressure.

That put Chisnall just a leg from a huge victory - and an opening 180 put him right on course, even against the the throw. Unbelievably, a second consecutive 180 opened the possibility of the Englishman winning the contest with a nine-dart out, as Taylor - who suffered an inopportune bounce-out - could only watch and wait.

The nine-darter wouldn't happen - the seventh dart landing narrowly outside the treble-20 - as Taylor could not finish, giving his opponent a second chance at victory. That too would be wasted - two throws at double-12 missed somewhat wildly.

Taylor then suffered the same fate - missing two attempts at double-top, an out that had troubled him all night - as Chisnall finally hit double-six with his first dart to become only the seventh person ever to knock out Taylor in the World Darts Championship, earning a round of applause from the 15-time champion and adulation from a crowd that expected an entirely different result.

Taylor rejected any suggestions of retirement after the loss, although he did admit fans had probably already seen the best from him.

"I'll give it another two or three years," Taylor said. "I'm not going to retire just yet - I'm going to try harder than I ever have in my career."

Terry Jenkins had some good fortune against Co Stompe © Getty Images

Enlarge

Earlier in the day, Co Stompe suffered an attack from a dog and then an ambush from the Bull as he exited the World Darts Championship at the hands of Terry Jenkins in the last-32 on Tuesday.

Stompe was bitten by the dog of former Netherlands international footballer Aron Winter prior to his clash with Jenkins, suffering damage to a knuckle on his throwing hand. It clearly seemed to affect him as he regularly winced during his throwing action, but even a fully-fit Stompe would have struggled to stop the rampaging Bull taking a 4-1 victory.

Jenkins nailed a 180 in each of the first three legs of the match, taking out a 98 finish en route to the first set. Both men were operating with averages above the 100-marker, but Jenkins again whitewashed his rival in the second to power into a 2-0 lead.

Stompe finally got on the board in the third, but he was left shaking his head at checkouts of 110 and 126 as Jenkins moved to the cusp of victory.

The Dutchman did manage to halt Jenkins' victory parade, pegging him back at 3-1 after Jenkins missed a dart for the match, but Stompe then missed a series of darts at the double for 3-2, allowing his nervy rival to limp over the finishing line.

John Part joined Jenkins in the last-16 despite suffering his own mini-collapse in a 4-1 triumph over Richie Burnett. The two-time champion started in clinical fashion, but he allowed Burnett to threaten a comeback before closing out the match with a 43 checkout.

Darth Maple did not miss a double as he raced to the first set, and he only dropped one leg in the first seven to take a 2-0 lead. When he moved to 3-0 Part looked ready to kill Burnett off, but he dropped the fourth set and was forced to battle in order to eventually book his spot in the next round.

The other match of the afternoon session saw Vincent van der Voort defeated 4-3 in a thriller against Andy Hamilton. The Hammer turned on a series of high scores in the deciding set to complete a comeback from 2-1 down, and he will now face Chisnall in the next round.

In the first game of the evening session, Belgian Kim Huybrechts proved far too classy for James Richardson as he cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Huybrechts entered the tournament as something of an outside threat, while Richardson appeared to be riding the crest of the wave after dumping out Raymond van Barneveld 3-0 in the previous round. But Huybrechts marked himself out as one to be watched over the remainder of the tournament with a comprehensive victory, never seeming to miss a beat after Richardson had initially levelled the scores at one set apiece.

Richardson kept pace with his opponent in the third stanza, but the momentum of the match appeared to shift as Huybrechts clinched the stanza with a great three-dart finish - hitting 19, treble-13 and then double-16 to move ahead oncemore.

It was a lead he would never give up, mercilessly punishing every drop in scoring for Richardson as he breezed his way into the last-16, and marked himself out as an opponent few will want to face.

Paul Nicholson, meanwhile, easily accounted for Alan Tabern in the final match of the evening. Nicholson dropped just three legs as he cruised through to the round of 16, claiming a 4-0 clean sweep over Tabern.

The 32-year-old from Newcastle will take on Huybrechts in the next round in the side of the draw which has been opened up by Taylor's exit.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.