Short Night at the Ally Pally

The fourth night of the World Darts Championship turned out to be the shortest day of the tournament so far as the shocks came thick and fast. The opening match of the night saw Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan get beaten by Belgian debutant Kim Huybrechts. Dolan outscored Huybrechts throughout the match but couldn't find a finish, this allowed Huybrechts to take a 2-0 lead without Dolan winning a single leg. Dolan made more of a fight of it in the third set but Huybrechts was able to win the decider to win the match 3-0 and progress through to the second round.

The preliminary match of the night saw Ireland's Connie Finnan take on New Zealand's Warren French. French found himself 2-0 then 3-1 down to Finnan. But he found his darts and was able to turn the match around to win it 4-3 to go onto face Mark Walsh in the first round proper.

Dave Chisnall didn't hang around either as he booked his place in the second round by beating Mark Dudbridge. Chisnall won the first set without conceding a leg. Dudbridge did take the first set of the second set but Chisnall came back to take it 3-1 and move into a 2-0 lead. The third set did go to the deciding leg but Chisnall won it to win the match 3-0 and cruise into the second round.

The biggest shock of the tournament so far came in the penultimate match as the World Number 86, James Richardson, beat Raymond Van Barneveld. Barneveld unsurprisingly took the first two legs of the match, but Richardson fought back to win the set and start the massive shock. Barney was shell shocked and he found himself losing the second set 3-1 to begin the panic stations. Superstition came into play for Barney as he came back into the third set with new flights and instantly took a 2-0 lead. But again Richardson fought back to force a decider and with Barney's fight all used up, the bricklayer took the deciding leg to win the match 3-0 and sets up a second round match against Kim Huybrechts.

Another shock was on the cards in the final game of the night as Warren French won the first set via a decider after being 2-0 ahead against Mark Walsh. Walsh managed to steady himself in the second set and won it 3-1 after being 2-0 ahead. Walsh took control of the match with a whitewash in the third set to take the lead for the first time. Walsh then avoided the upset by taking the fourth set 3-1 to win the match by the same scoreline.