Dazzle too bright for Kirk

Shepherd: First round exit

First round results:
A Smith 2-3 T Ayres
A Gray 0-3 P Nicholson
K Shepherd 2-3 J van der Rassel
T Eccles 3-2 R van Eijden

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Beaten finalist 12 months ago Kirk Shepherd was dumped out of the 2009 World Championship at the first hurdle by Jan van der Rassel at Alexandra Palace - where Australian Paul Nicholson made a real impact on his debut.

There will be no repeat of Shepherd's fairytale run from last year, as the 22-year-old who made it all the way to the final was this time downed 3-2 in the first round by wily Dutchman van der Rassel.

Newcastle-born Australian Paul Nicholson demolished 27th seed Adrian Gray with a 3-0 whitewash and the fourth-best average of the tournament so far, while the Pieman Andy Smith was knocked out by qualifier Tony Ayres.

Sheet metal worker Shepherd upset all the odds last year when beating the likes of Terry Jenkins, Peter Manley and Wayne Mardle en route to a final defeat against John Part.

Decider

Shepherd never looked back to his best at the Ally Pally though, and was always playing catch-up against a consistent van der Rassel - who looked home and dry at 2-1 up in the deciding set.

After Shepherd had bent the double 14 wire on a 105 outshot, van der Rassel could not hold his nerve and his three missed doubles saw the Young Gun level at 2-2.

It was only a reprieve though and van der Rassel managed to get ahead and claim the nest two legs to seal Shepherd's fate and book a second round place.

Geordie Australian Nicholson was booed at the Grand Slam, but given a good reception in North London and responded with a brilliant 3-0 whitewash of Gray.

The established PDC star could not even win a leg, and in fact only had one throw at a double - which he missed - as Nicholson equalled Phil Taylor's first round average of 96.62.

Whitewash

"A lot of people said that before you get on the stage its very hot, but I like it like that the hotter the better," Nicholson, who plays Adrian Lewis in round two, told Sky Sports after the match.

"I'm a Geordie, but essentially I'm here to represent the darts players of Australia - as the DPA are the ones who got me here.

"It's good to get an average like that, hopefully I can carry it on - I saw Adrian play well in his game so we'll see what we can do against him next round."

Andy Smith was yet another seed to come unstuck, as he fell to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of qualifier Tony Ayres.

Sussex qualifier Ayres was always in front despite every set going the distance - apart from the fifth and final one that debutant Ayres won 3-1.

Tony Eccles survived an almighty scare to beat Remco van Eijden 3-2 in a real thriller of a first round match.

The Dutchman, who beat Anastasia Dobromyslova, fought back from two sets down to level the match and looked liek causing a shock until 'The Viper' regained control to make it through.

Eddie Cox

On a sad note elsewhere, the funeral of PDC player's marshal Eddie Cox took place on Tuesday in Preston, after his sudden death last week.

The 51-year-old was much-loved by all the players on the circuit that he looked after during tournaments - and many have been wearing black armbands as a sign of respect during the World Championship.