LONDON -- Ricky Evans booked his place in the third round of the World Darts Championship after coming through a thriller against James Wade in which he missed seven match darts before sealing victory.
With the pair level at two sets each, Evans repeatedly missed the chance to put the game away, allowing Wade to take the match to a tiebreak.
But after eventually edging ahead 5-4 in the tiebreak, Evans, who is renowned for his larger-than-life onstage persona, was finally able to hold his nerve and take out 99 to seal an epic triumph.
"Imagine coming to darts and winning 3-0? Evans told Sky Sports. "What's the point? Make it interesting.
"I say it every year, 'I'm weird but I'm box office,'"
The colourful Evans is known for his festive shirts and walking out to 'Merry Christmas Everyone' by Shakin' Stevens, and he took to the stage this time holding a Santa-dressed dancing toy.
After a breathless five-setter, the fast-throwing 35-year-old from Kettering said: "The problem is now I'm [playing] after Christmas.
"I'm going to have to walk on to something not Christmas, aren't I?
"I'm going to have 'Like A Prayer'... Madonna. Who cares? I'm still going."
Evans won the opening set against the darts, helped by a 128 checkout and Wade missing double five.
Wade produced a 170 'Big Fish' finish on the way to levelling matters, but Evans took the next set, with a 13-dart leg against the throw proving decisive.
Evans lost his composure in the fourth set, but 144 and 89 checkouts at the start of the fifth took him to the brink of victory.
At 2-1 ahead, Evans missed six match darts, including three at double one, and was pulled up for an underarm throw in the next leg by the referee.
Evans then missed a seventh match dart at double 16 when 3-2 ahead and, after Wade had failed to get over the line himself, he finally kept his nerve with superb 99 finish.
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"I loved it. I've never been so animated or nervous, but I was really, really nervous there. Really, really nervous," Evans told a news conference.
"I won the first set against a throw and I thought, 'you've got a chance here.' And then of course I was bang average again. I got three sets. I don't know how.
"I probably wasn't the better player stats-wise, but yeah, he probably won about 12 legs more than me, but I got three [sets]. He got two. So fantastic. Brilliant."
David Munyua's dream Ally Pally run comes to an end
Earlier on Monday, David Munyua's history-making run at the tournament was brought to an end by Kevin Doets.
Munyua,a veterinarian by trade and the first player from Kenya to play in the world darts championship, sensationally beat 18th seed Mike De Decker in the first round.
But he was unable to rekindle the magic as he produced a disappointingly flat performance. The 30-year-old spoke candidly in a post-match news conference about how he hopes to have transformed the perception of darts across Africa.
Elsewhere, German marksman Gabriel Clemens whitewashed Wessel Nijman and Madars Razma ensured he will return after the Christmas break as he beat Darren Beveridge 3-1.
Gian van Veen, Luke Humphries cruise through
After seeing several seeds knocked out over the weekend, Monday's evening session provided the stage for some of the contenders to flex their muscles.
Five years after he was stunned by Paul Lim at the world championship, Luke Humphries gave his old adversary no quarter as he beat 'The Singapore Slinger' 3-0.
Humphries allowed Lim to win one leg -- the penultimate leg of the match -- and remains on course to win a tournament that he proclaimed last month he will win.
Gian van Veen was similarly impressive as he recovered from a slow start to dominate Alan Soutar. Having lost the first set, a missed dart at double eight that would have given Soutar a 2-0 lead was what the Dutchman needed to kick into gear and race to the finish line.
Van Veen has been tipped by many to go far in the tournament and his 108.28 average showed why he is rated so highly.
Nathan Aspinall also made light work of Leonard Gates and 20-year-old Charlie Manby continued to turn heads with a 3-0 win over Adam Sevada.
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