2021 William Hill World Championship Day 5

Danny Baggish clinched a spot in Round Two of the 2021 William Hill World Championship with a superb victory over highly-fancied Australian Damon Heta.  In a fascinating, topsy-turvy game that kept swinging one way and then the other, Baggish’s consistency was the telling factor.

After storming into a 2-0 lead in the opening set, Heta saw Baggish step up a gear and take the set thanks to a swift 15-darter with a nice check from 113. The second set also went all the way, and again went to the man from Florida, due in part to Heta’s inconsistency.

With Baggish sitting on 32, and ready to take a 2-0 lead in the third, Heta pulled a brilliant 146 finish out of nowhere to make it 1-1. He followed with am 11-darter (three 140’s, 81), and then a 15-darter with a 160 checkout! Legs of 16, 14, and 12 (after the American had wired a 164 out) from the revitalized Aussie took the match to a fifth set.

The first two legs of the fifth set went with the darts, before the 2019 North American Champion missed three at 52, and Heta broke serve. Next leg, the pressure really began to tell as both players missed a boatload of doubles before Baggish hit D1 to force a decider.

A first throw 180 from Danny set the scene, and surviving one match dart from his opponent, he sank the required 40 to setup a clash with twice World Champ Adrian Lewis on Tuesday afternoon (December 22).

Other news so far includes a superb fightback from Paul Lim (in his 25th World Championship) to defeat Luke Humphries and a stunning display from Michael van Gerwen to beat the impressive Ryan Murray with an average of 108.98!

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