Leonard Gates made his Ally Pally debut tonight, and gave us the satisfaction of seeing two Americans reach the second round of the Cazoo World Championship.

Starting his PDC World Championship career with a maximum 180, Gates secured the first leg in just 14 darts. It was soon 2-0, but Geert Nentjes wasn’t done quite yet, and struck back to take the next three legs and the set.

A nice 78 check gave ‘Soldier’ the advantage in the second, but the Dutchman needed just 13 darts to level. An 18-darter redressed the balance, and if the fourth leg was scrappy, at least it was scrappy in Gates’ favor, and it was now one set apiece.

Leonard finished from 100 to take the first leg of the third, 32 to take the second, and then a beautiful 128 for the set. The nice thing here is that the 128 sealed a 12-darter (140, 140, 93, 128).

Gates broke serve to move ahead in the fourth, and then opened a two-leg gap with a 111 out. After giving up a two-leg lead in the first set, he didn’t want to do that again. Well, 2-0 became 2-1, and then, after missing seven darts for the match, it became 2-2. Nentjes had the start in the decider, but this time, it wasn’t to be, and the Texan grabbed the W by hitting the required Double 8.

Now, Gates takes on Stephen Bunting in the Top 64, while Danny Baggish faces Mervyn King. Both are scheduled to play on Wednesday evening.

Tournament news and updates can be found on the PDC website

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