 Dobromyslova was well supported by the Alexandra Palace crowd |
Anastasia Dobromyslova, the first woman to play in the PDC World Championship, went out in the preliminary round with a 5-3 defeat by Remco van Eijden. The 24-year-old Russian had several chances against her Dutch opponent and won the first leg as the fans at Alexandra Palace cheered every dart. But Van Eijden remained composed to take a 3-1 lead before eventually wrapping up the win in the eighth leg. Former finalist Peter Manley fell to a shock 3-2 defeat by Mensur Suljovic. Raymond van Barneveld and Wayne Mardle sealed first-round wins. Dutchman Van Barneveld, ranked second in the world, beat Mark Stephenson 3-0, while Mardle had little trouble in seeing off David Fatum by the same scoreline. World number seven Andy Hamilton had earlier booked his place in the second round with a 3-0 win over Michael Barnard.  | This is just the start for me and I'll be better for the experience |
Dobromyslova's arrival at the championship had drawn plenty of attention, but the women's world champion was not able to make the headlines with a famous victory. "I'm disappointed but I wasn't good enough on the day," said Dobromyslova. "I felt comfortable on stage but we were both nervous in the first few legs and I felt some pressure. "But this is just the start for me and I'll be better for the experience. I'll be travelling to all the PDC tournaments next year and hopefully I will qualify again." Van Eijden admitted: "I've played most of the best players in the game but that was the hardest match I've ever had. "Everyone wanted to see me lose but I settled down after the first couple of legs and got the win. "Anastasia is a world champion and a very good player, and she can play better than this, but she was under pressure and did well." Mark Walsh beat Jamie Caven 3-2 but missed the chance to claim the first ever nine-dart finish in the history of the championships - and a �20,000 bonus. "On the nine-darter, I was thinking about the �20,000," said Walsh. "The double 12 attempt was nearer the treble!" The 2005 World Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge was pushed all the way by qualifier Nick Fullwell before taking a 3-2 win, while Denis Ovens saw off Steve Maish 3-0.
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