German Teenager Topples King At Ally Pally

Mervyn King was eliminated from the PDC World Darts Championship in the first round after suffering a 3-2 defeat to German teenager Max Hopp.

Former semi-finalist King needed a pain-killing injection in his back before the contest but still managed to maintain a high level of play in an absorbing encounter.

And 18-year-old Hopp, who wrapped up the win with a spectacular 161 finish, admitted after the match that even he was shocked by the result.

“I think I played well – I never expected to win because Mervyn, over the last month, has been really, really brilliant,” he told Sky Sports.

“I just had a feeling that the 161 could go (and I thought), ‘now go for your dream and try to beat him'. The 161 went in and I’m so happy I can’t explain it.

He added: “I think that was my best game. I focused (on) every leg and I kept fighting. It makes me so happy.”

King looked to be struggling with his back issue from the start but managed to take out a 120 finish to win the first set in the deciding leg.

The second set also went to a decider with Hopp, who would go on to hit a total of ten 180s, this time coming out on top thanks to a 12-darter.

King then won the third set to edge ahead again but missed a match dart in the deciding leg of the fourth set, with Hopp taking full advantage of his reprieve to clinch the set.

Hopp broke throw in the fifth leg of the deciding set but King responded in kind. However, Hopp then struck again against the darts and secured the win in the next leg thanks to the 161.

The German will play Vincent van der Voort in the second round after the Dutchman defeated John Henderson 3-2.

Henderson led 2-1 in the deciding set and was sitting on 80 to win the match when Van der Voort took out 157 to keep himself in the contest and then won the next two legs to progress to round two.

Adrian Lewis breezed through to the second round with a 3-0 victory against David Pallett. Lewis finished the match with an average of 101.9, the highest of any player in the tournament so far.

Pallett hit a 161 checkout in the first leg of the match but was soon overwhelmed by double world champion Lewis, who won each set by a 3-1 scoreline to set up a meeting with current world youth champion Keegan Brown in the next round.

BDO champion Stephen Bunting also enjoyed an easy passage through to the second round as he defeated Robert Marijanovic 3-1.

Croatian Marijanovic, who beat Jermain Wattimena 4-3 in a preliminary contest, was whitewashed in each of the first two sets before winning the third. But Bunting quickly regouped an wrapped up the win in the fourth set.