Ricky Evans secured passage to the third round of the 2026 World Darts Championship after an enthralling game which saw him penalised for an illegal throw.
Evans squared off against James Wade at Alexandra Palace on Monday afternoon and came away with a 3-2 victory which will see him face the winner of the tie between Charlie Manby and Adam Sevada in the next round.
The game served up all sorts of brilliance and drama in equal measure - with Evans failing on seven different match darts before finally securing the win at the eighth and final attempt.
The 35-year-old is known for his fast-throwing style, hence the nickname 'Rapid'. But Evans, wearing his customised Christmas shirt, was far too quick for referee Charlie Corstorphine's liking and was penalised for what he deemed to be an illegal throw.
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He gave Evans a score of 15 when he had in fact hit 20 on the board. "That last one doesn't count, under arm throw," the official commented, before the commentator confirmed his call for a foul.
After Wade missed badly, Evans capitalised in perfect fashion to move 3-2 up in the leg and couldn't resist giving a sarcastic thumbs up to the referee before pulling a wild facial expression.
The six-time PDC Pro Tour finalist kept his composure to bag the tie-break win with a 99 checkout and incredible 8th match dart.
He dedicated the win to his late sister Elisha, who passed away earlier this year.
Evans has emerged as one of the wackiest and must colourful characters in darts.
In his first game where he saw off Man Lok Leung, the Kettering player split his pants and then gave a bizarre post-match interview where he described gravy as "the devil".
He then proceeded to embark on a two-and-a-half minute about gravy in his post-match press conference.
Despite claiming to be a Scrooge, he came out to 'Merry Christmas Everyone' by Shakin Stevens as his walk-on song and got the crowd going.
Evans will return to the oche after the Christmas break and if it's anything like his most recent outing, fans will be in for a treat.
Topics: World Darts Championship, Darts
Josh Lawless