Searle loses thriller but Aspinall advances at Worlds

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Sam Drury

BBC Sport journalist

1 hour ago

Twentieth seed Ryan Searle is out of the PDC World Darts Championship after losing a third-round thriller against Ryan Joyce at Alexandra Palace.

Searle fought back from two sets down and ended the game with an average of 100.97 but Joyce, a quarter-finalist in 2019, pipped him in the deciding set to win 4-3.

With the seventh set level at 2-2, Joyce hit a brilliant 113 checkout to edge ahead and won the next leg against the darts to clinch the win.

He will now face the winner of Saturday evening’s match between teenager and fourth seed Luke Littler and Ian White in the fourth round.

Meanwhile, 12th seed Nathan Aspinall is through to the last 16 for the first time in five years after a 4-0 win over 21st seed Andrew Gilding.

Aspinall’s win was built on his ruthlessness on the doubles with the 33-year-old from Stockport hitting six of his seven darts at the outer in the opening two sets.

Gilding missed two darts to win the second and was then broken in the deciding leg of the third when ‘The Asp’ took out 101 – his only 100-plus checkout of the match.

An average of 92.17 is well down on what Aspinall would expect but his six 180s came at crucial times and he backed it up with a 60% checkout percentage.

Ricardo Pietreczko awaits Aspinall in the next round after he stormed to a 4-1 win over Englishman Scott Williams, who reached the semi-finals last year.

The German went two sets up and responded superbly to Williams pulling one back, averaging 118.66 in the fourth before sealing the win with a stylish 121 checkout.