Caldwell ousted at Lakeside

Wellington darts player Craig Caldwell has been steamrolled by Daniel Day in a preliminary round of the BDO World Darts Championship.

Caldwell, appearing in his third championship at the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey, England, fell 3-0 to Day on Tuesday, unable to match the Englishman in scoring average or doubles percentage.

Day, ranked 29th in the BDO world rankings and appearing in his first world championship, won the first set in the blink of an eye

3-0, taking the first leg in 15 darts and also completing a 136 finish as Caldwell did not have a shot at a double in the set.

Caldwell, 44, managed to win legs in the second and third sets but was not consistent enough to stay with a confident Day. The

57th-ranked player averaged 80.38 to Day’s 86.24 and converted only two of 17 attempts at doubles to Day’s nine-of-18 success.

Day, watched by a big family contingent, had some shaky moments on doubles in the second and third sets but was able to produce 132 and double-20, double-20 finishes to win crucial legs.

Caldwell defeated Scotsman Alan Soutar 3-1 in the preliminary round in his world championship debut in 2016, then hit nine 180 maximums – equalling a tournament first-round record – in a 3-2 loss to Englishman Scott Mitchell. He also produced six perfect darts in a nine-dart attempt in the deciding leg in the third set of that match. In 2017, he fell 3-1 to Englishman Dennis Harbour.

Last month, Kiwis Bernie Smith and Cody Harris advanced out of the preliminary round in the rival PDC World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Smith defeated China’s Zong Xiao Chen 2-0, averaging 87.47, and then was at the centre of controversy as his first round opponent, Englishman Justin Pipe, appeared to cough twice as Smith threw match darts at double 20 and double 10 in the fourth set before losing 3-2. Harris got by American Willard Bruguier 2-1 in the preliminary round, averaging 84.30, before losing to 17th-seeded Englishman Ian White 3-1 in the first round.