Kenyan debutant David Munyua caused a huge shock at the PDC World Championship, coming from two sets down to beat world number 18 Mike de Decker in an enthralling end to Thursday’s afternoon session.
Although Munyua had acquitted himself well on his first appearance at Alexandra Palace, an upset had looked extremely unlikely when the Belgian moved within one set of victory.
Munyua, who works as a vet, missed darts to win the second set, did the same in the third but came back to win it, edged the fourth and fought back to win the match in the fifth.
The 30-year-old, who qualified via the African Darts Group Qualifier, was broken in the first leg of the decider but produced an astounding outer bull-treble 20-bullseye 135 finish to level it, before holding his nerve to complete victory.
In his on-stage interview after the match, Munyua described his win as “amazing” and said it was a “very big moment for the sport, for Africa and for Kenya”.
Former BDO world champion Mark Webster said on Sky Sports: “This is what the World Championship is all about. Forget about the stats in terms of big averages – it had drama all the way through.
“David put in a big performance. It just backs up that we’re going global with this sport.”
The defeat continued De Decker’s disappointing record at the World Championship, with the 2024 World Grand Prix winner yet to make it past the last 64 at six appearances at Alexandra Palace.