Scottish Player Triumphs Over Finn in World Darts Championship After 15 Missed Match Darts
LONDON – United News Network (UNN): A Scottish player required 15 match darts to close out the game before finally defeating a Finnish debutant by a single dart in a prolonged first-round encounter at the PDC World Darts Championship.
In a lengthy match lasting nearly an hour and a half, 47-year-old Scotsman Alan Soutar secured a place in the second round. Soutar missed 15 match darts, while his 33-year-old Finnish opponent, Teemu Harju, missed four match darts of his own in the sixth leg of the final set.
Soutar initially built a two-set lead without dropping a single leg, averaging 107.36 during that period and hitting 6 out of 8 attempts at doubles. However, as Harju remained steady, Soutar’s three-dart average dropped to nearly 90, and he struggled to find the clinical finish to end the match.
The Finnish player had the advantage of throwing first in the decisive leg of the final set but failed to capitalize. The Scotsman eventually secured the necessary points for victory—hitting double 16 with his first dart after needing 45—granting him his first win of this major world championship.
The record for the most missed match darts by any player in a major match is 18, held by three-time world champion John Part.
Notably, the Scottish player wore glasses on stage for the first time in his career, though he famously struggled to hit trebles in a match against Andy Hamilton during a premium darts final in Cornwall in 2013.
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