Anastasia Dobromyslova's dreams of reaching the first round proper of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship dream were ended last night after she lost her preliminary-round clash with Remco van Eijden.
Reigning women's world champion Dobromyslova, making her debut in the tournament, claimed the opening leg against her Dutch opponent, but Van Eijden - who was roundly heckled by the largely pro-Dobromyslova crowd throughout - won the next three legs on the spin to move into a 3-1 lead.
Dobromyslova responded well as both players began to find their stride as the boisterous crowd began to settle.
The Russian closed out a 13-darter to move to within a leg before levelling in the next.
It was not to be for 24-year-old, however, as Van Eijden rattled off the next two legs to claim a 5-3 win and set up a first-round match with Tony Eccles.
‘I'm disappointed but I wasn't good enough on the day,’ said Dobromyslova.
‘I felt comfortable on stage but we were both nervous in the first few legs and I felt some pressure.
‘But this is just the start for me and I'll be better for the experience. I'll be travelling to all the PDC tournaments next year and hopefully I will qualify again.’
Van Eijden added: ‘I've played most of the best players in the game but that was the hardest match I've ever had.
‘Everyone wanted to see me lose but I settled down after the first couple of legs and got the win.
‘Anastasia is a world champion and a very good player, and she can play better than this, but she was under pressure and did well.’
Elsewhere, Raymond van Barneveld and Wayne Mardle progressed to the second round with comfortable straight-sets wins.
World number two Van Barneveld brushed aside Mark Stephenson 3-0 while Mardle defeated David Fatum by the same scoreline.
The opening match of the evening session saw seventh-seeded Andy Hamilton claim a straight-sets win over Michael Barnard to set up a second-round clash with either Andy Smith or Tony Ayres.
Mark Walsh posted a 3-2 win over Jamie Caven but was left to rue a missed double 12 which denied him what would have been the first ever nine-dart finish in the history of the PDC World Championship - and a £20,000 bonus.
‘On the nine-darter, I was thinking about the £20,000,’ said Walsh.
‘The double 12 attempt was nearer the treble!’
Elsewhere, 2005 World Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge was made to battle before posting a 3-2 win over qualifier Nick Fullwell, while Denis Ovens defeated Steve Maish 3-0.
Wes Newton defeated Per Laursen 3-1 to move into the second round while Charles Losper prevailed 6-4 in a preliminary-round encounter with Sudesh Fitzgerald.
