Mensur Suljovic is the latest seed to fall in the second round of the PDC world darts championship, losing 3-1 to the world No 61, Ryan Searle.
The Austrian, who had been an outside bet to reach the final from the bottom half of the draw, took the first set in style but was pegged back by Somerset’s Searle, playing at Alexandra Palace for the first time.
Searle then took three consecutive legs to move 2-1 ahead and despite pressure from Suljovic, he closed out the match with a clinical 118 checkout to set up a third-round tie with Ireland’s William O’Connor.
Earlier in the day, two former BDO champions exited the tournament as Steve Beaton and Stephen Bunting were both eliminated. The 54-year-old Beaton lost 3-0 to Chris Dobey, while Bunting was shocked 3-1 by the world No 90, Luke Humphries.
Adrian Lewis avoided an upset against Ted Evetts, winning 3-0. The 2011 and 2012 PDC champion has slipped to No 16 in the world but held his nerve against the promising 21-year-old. Alan Norris was another seed who found a way through, prevailing in a sudden-death thriller against Steve Lennon.
The evening session’s first two matches both went to the wire, with Spain’s Cristo Reyes rallying from 2-0 down against Austria’s Rowby-John Rodriguez, before Mervyn King held off a comeback from Jan Dekker to progress.
Wade apologises to Asada over outburst
James Wade has apologised for saying he “wanted to really hurt” Seigo Asada following his PDC darts world championships victory over the Japanese qualifier on Wednesday night.
The world No9, who is bipolar and suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, explained that his behaviour was the result of a hypomania episode before the game. Hypomania is a mood state linked with bipolar disorder that is characterised by persistent euphoria and a lack of inhibition or regard for social conventions.
Wade had battled back from a set down to beat Asada 3-2 but the match was overshadowed by his actions on stage as he appeared to be feeling the pressure.
He shouted in the direction of his opponent after levelling the match at 1-1, and later defended his aggression, saying: “I kept giving it to him, I wanted to hurt him, I wanted to really hurt him in his face. It wasn’t a great game but I wanted to hurt him and I wanted to progress. That’s for my son, and also for the UK.”
The former player Wayne Mardle, working as a pundit, described Wade’s conduct as “thuggish” and said there was no place in darts for it.
In an apology on posted on Twitter on Thursday morning, Wade said he deeply regretted his actions. “Seigo Asada is a great player and I would like to say sorry to him, the fans and the PDC,” he added. “Anyone that has followed my professional career will know it is very out of character for me and I am disappointed about the way I acted both on the stage and in my interviews after the match.
“I was fighting a battle with myself due to a hypo mania episode which can happen to me at any time and no one is more upset than I about what happened. I would again like to apologise and hope people can understand how remorseful I am.”
In an interview with the Guardian last year Wade described how his mood alters without medication: “I’m walking around my ideal world where I’ve got money, cars, sunshine and flowers in front of me while behind me it’s like a nuclear bomb has gone off,” he told Donald McRae.”
The PDC confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the match is to be reviewed by the Darts Regulation Authority, the independent governing body responsible for all player disciplinary matters relating to PDC events. Sean Ingle
