What a comeback from Dave Chisnall.
He looked dead and buried after two sets but Dave Chisnall showed all of his experience to rise from the dead and knock Josh Payne out of the World Darts Championships on Sunday afternoon.
With Payne averaging an outrageous 114 on his way to two 3-0 wins in the first two sets of the game, it looked as if Chisnall wasn’t even going to get a chance to impose himself on the game but he remained calm, waited for his opportunity and as Payne began to stutter, Chisnall struck.
And as Chisnall strides onto the third round, Payne must be sick.
The 25-year-old has been tipped for big things ever since he burst onto the scene more than five years ago and though his progress has stalled in recent times, he’s still clearly a gifted natural talent.
Showing all of those gifts in the early stages of this Ally Pally showdown, it looked as if he was about to have a coming of age moment in London.
But his darts began to betray him where they had been hitting the spot. Chisnall smelled blood and he dragged himself back into this game.
CHIZZY IN TROUBLE | Dave Chisnall may be seeing his hopes of going far in this year's World Championship slipping away as Josh Payne steams into a 2 set lead! 👀#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/FxOUux3Mt0
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2018
They thought that Chisnall was in trouble but he was having absolutely none of it.
GAME ON | Chizzy has pulled this back. SCENES! 🙌🏼 🙌🏼 🙌🏼#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/adiaCXJZXU
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2018
And he went onto strike while the iron was hot, closing out with an ice-cold double two to win it.
WHAT A FINISH TO THE MATCH | Darting drama at it's finest. Well played Dave and Josh! 🎯#WHDarts pic.twitter.com/qo90RiUMil
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 16, 2018
“That’s the match of the championship so far,” they said in the Sky Sports commentary box.
And it’s very hard to argue with them.
There were 11 180s in the game while the back and forth nature of it ensured the crowd were gripped from start to finish.
Chizzy survives but he always believed.
“When I went off for the break, I thought, ‘he can’t play like this all the time’…I’ve had a load of good comebacks, I just thought keep battling, keep battling and luckily I got away with it there!”
