Nick Kenny pulled off a massive upset in the PDC World Darts Championship as he beat former World Champions and legend Raymond van Barneveld 3-1 in Alexandra Palace.
The Welshman, who's currently ranked 76th in the world, raced out to a two set lead which included him missing 6 darts to take the first set before finally winning it on the seventh.
Barney was able to claw one back before Kenny finished it off in a set decider. With the crowd behind him at Ally Pally, Kenny was brought to tears after his victory as he now progresses to the third round, the furthest he's ever gotten in the World Championships.
What a moment for Nick Kenny 👏
He defeats Raymond van Barneveld to reach the third round 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LAdCLxUXv2
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) December 21, 2024
Nick Kenny Reveals Exchange With Raymond Van Barneveld After Heated Matchup
There was a bit of controversy heading into this matchup as Kenny had been outspoken about feeling disrespected by the likes of van Barneveld and Peter Wright. The pair had speculated that the Barney would be the one to face defending champions Luke Humphries in the next round, ignoring the prospect that Kenny would be the victor.
Kenny went as far as to say that van Barneveld wasn't "bothered" about the match and that he fancied his chances as the underdog against the 2007 champion.
He was right to do so as he is now the man that will face Luke Humphries in the third round of the PDC World Darts Championships. Speaking after his victory, Kenny spoke about an encounter he had with van Barneveld before their match where van Barneveld tried to deny saying anything disparaging about Kenny.
Barney pulled me aside earlier for a quick word and I said, "I'll pull it up on my phone if you want me, you were already playing Humphries." He couldn't remember, maybe he's done a lot of interviews and got a bit tired and couldn't remember.
I feel like we're moaning about them but they deserve to have a lot of credit off the media, but then they're doing exactly to the players that are coming up what they think is being done to them, that's all I'm going to say about that.
While Luke Humphries looks like a daunting task for Nick Kenny, he's already proven that he thrives when he's the underdog so we could be in store for more surprises to come.
