World Darts Championship: Ian White suffered a first-round defeat at Alexandra Palace
Saturday 19 December 2015 18:29, UK
Ian White became the latest seed to suffer an early exit at the World Darts Championship after a first-round defeat by Dimitri Van den Bergh.
The ninth-seeded Stoke man took the opening set, but the Belgian then reeled off three straight sets to seal a 3-1 victory at Alexandra Palace.
White joins fellow seeds Kim Huybrechts, John Henderson and Justin Pipe, who also bowed out in their opening matches, but Steve Beaton and Kevin Painter both safely came through their afternoon matches.
Van den Bergh displayed extravagant dance moves on his way to the oche and his finishing was equally flamboyant, with the youngster completing checkouts of 122 and 107 in the opener.
White still claimed a 1-0 lead, but Van den Bergh continued his deadly accuracy at the doubles and quickly levelled the match.
The 21-year-old, nicknamed 'The Dream Maker' was determined to enjoy a memorable debut and he moved 2-1 up with a 103 finish.
White mounted a late fightback, but watched on helplessly as Van den Bergh sealed a memorable upset win with double 16.
Beaton, the 1996 Lakeside champion, had no such problems and his sizzling 164-finish sealed a 3-0 victory over New Zealand-born Koha Kokiri.
Painter also progressed to the next stage after a routine 3-0 win over Kim Viljanen, who had won his earlier preliminary match against Sven Groen.
World Darts Championship day three results:
Kim Viljanen 2-1 Sven Groen (P)
Steve Beaton 3-0 Koha Kokiri
Ian White 1-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Kevin Painter 3-0 Viljanen
