Chris Dobey has admitted that he wanted to slap his opponent after an outrageous moment in their World Championship match.
With the festive season in full swing, darts fans are currently enjoying watching the biggest event on the calendar as the 2026 World Darts Championship is underway.
Several of the biggest players have already eased their way through their opening match at London's iconic Alexandra Palace, wit Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and fan favourite Beau Greaves all through to the second round.
On Tuesday evening, English player Dobey faced China's Xiaochen Zong in his first match of the competition.
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And immediately after the match, the 35-year-old admitted that he had wanted to slap Zong during their clash because of his behaviour during one viral moment.
Like many of the other big names in the competition so far, Dobey secured a spot in the second round with relatively comfortable 3-1 win in his opening match.
But that's not to say that it was easy for Dobey, who said post-match that he had been ill through the night and into the morning of his match.
Meanwhile Zong appeared to be enjoying himself throughout, leading to him jokingly creating an iconic moment during the second set as he pulled off a 'no look' 180.
Having already pinned two darts into treble 20, Zong decided to suddenly look away from the board as he threw his third and final board, which once again found the treble, causing the Ally Pally crowd to erupt.
However, while the crowd loved the cheeky moment, it didn't go down well with Dobey, who joked about the incident in his post-match press conference.
"I could've slapped him when going for that 180, though," Dobey laughed.
"It annoyed us a little bit and I wanted to try that little bit harder."
Dobey also criticised his opponent for his actions after noticing that a wasp, which has plagued several players during the World Championship, had landed on the Englishman's back.
"He was pointing at my back, 'You've got a wasp on you, you've got a wasp on you,'" Dobey told talkSPORT.
"I said, 'Well, get it off then.' He just left it.
"So I had to wait until Charlie the caller came on."
Having picked up the 3-1 win over Zong, Dobey will now face Andrew Gilding in the second round of the World Darts Championship on December 20.
Topics: World Darts Championship, Darts
Ben McCrum