MEATH YOUNGSTER KEANE Barry crashed out of the PDC World Darts Championship as Michael van Gerwen opened his bid for a fourth world title in ruthless fashion.
Van Gerwen made light work of their second round clash on Tuesday night, racing to a 3-0 victory at the Alexandra Palace.
Duleek’s Barry — who averaged 95.81 to Van Gerwen’s 98.17 — was punished for wasteful darts when he had legs at his mercy, and was made to rue 14 missed darts at double.
Van Gerwen, who was last world champion in 2019, can now enjoy a Christmas break before the third round action commences on 27 December.
Barry was on the back foot immediately after missing five darts at double to lose his opening throw.
And he then squandered a chance to level the first set at 2-2 when he missed another two doubles with the leg at his mercy, allowing van Gerwen to close out the set.
167 CHECKOUT! 💥
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 19, 2023
MAGICAL FROM MICHAEL VAN GERWEN!
With Barry poised to break throw and take control of the second set, Van Gerwen responds with a roof-raising 167 checkout!
That was majestic! 👏 pic.twitter.com/arxrMBCatm
Barry, 21, had van Gerwen under pressure again early in the second, and looked poised to take a 2-0 lead, only for the Dutch master to land a magnificent 167 checkout to level the set and wrestle back control.
From there, van Gerwen pulled clear, taking the second set 3-1 and the third 3-0 to get his campaign off to a winning start.
“I’m a little disappointed with my scoring, the most important thing is I won my first game,” he said during his on-stage interview.
“You don’t want to let yourself down, you have to fight for every leg, and when things like the 167 work it gives you a great boost.
“It’s the first round of the World Championship no one wants to lose, there is pressure on me, like there is all the top boys. The most important thing is I’m back after Christmas.”
Matt Campbell is flying home for Christmas after sending 13th seed James Wade crashing out.
The world number 57 beat the four-time semi-finalist 3-2 to record the biggest win of his career and win back-to-back matches at Ally Pally for the first time in his career.
Wade, who became the first seeded player to exit the tournament, did not shake Campbell’s hand after the match but the Canadian had no hard feelings.
“I woudldn’t be happy either,” he said. “I guarantee if I see him now he would come down and be like nothing happened. But in that moment, we work all hard all year for this, I don’t blame him for being disappointed.”
Keegan Brown will not want to hear the name Boris Krcmar again after enduring a chastening afternoon, with the Croatian cruising to a 3-1 win.
Leading women’s player Mikuru Suzuki is still waiting for her first win at the Alexandra Palace after she was beaten 3-0 by German Ricardo Pietreczko.
Suzuki follows Fallon Sherrock out of the tournament.
There were also wins for Steve Beaton, Jeffrey de Graaf, Tomoya Goto and Mike De Decker.
– Additional reporting by Press Association
