Mark Walsh’s Ladbrokes World Darts Championship hopes ended at the first hurdle on Saturday when he was beaten 3-1 by Jarkko Komula at Alexandra Palace.
The Abbots Langley player took two of the opening three legs of the match before Komula won the fourth leg with a clinical 126 checkout, and the Finn then took out a 72 finish to take the opening set.
The Finn, making his third appearance at Alexandra Palace, won the second set to leave the number 29 seed in trouble and went a leg away from victory twice in the third set, only for the former UK Open finalist to edge the set with a superb 121 checkout.
The fourth set also went to a deciding leg as nerves kicked in to affect both players, with Komula missing six chances to win the match only for Walsh to miss five doubles of his own to force a deciding set, allowing the Finnish ace to return and hit double 14 to secure his place in the second round.
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