There was an hilarious moment in the Players Championship on Saturday night as Nathan Aspinall beat a sarcastic Mervyn King.
Aspinall, a two-time PDC World Championship semi finalist, eventually outclassed ‘The King’ to win 6-2 after averaging around 105. But the contest had been tight early on, locked at 2-2 before a moment which left both darts players laughing.
Aspinall had must missed a shot at bullseye to take the leg when veteran King stepped up to the oche, needing to take out 130 to go into the lead. He nailed the first dart, hitting treble 20 to leave 70.
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But the next throw wasn’t so smooth, veering away from the 20 slot as he notched a single 5, leaving a rather unhelpful 65. The 56-year-old then took a step back and said: “Oh, thank you very much” with a tone of total disdain.
Aspinall couldn’t contain himself in the background, laughing to himself so much that he had to turn away from the camera. And the commentators also joined in: “Thank you very much haha,” he said.
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(Image: PDC)
“The only thing that made that reaction from Merv even better, was Nathan’s reaction stood about seven feet behind him. They had very different opinions on what had just happened.”
Aspinall duly took advantage of the mishap, taking out 48 with a single 16 before doubling it: “Well thank you very much as double 16 finds the mark,” the pundit added, still chuckling live on air. “That’s 3-2.”
King, a world championship runner up in both 2002 and 2004, has struggled for form of late, admitting at the Ally Pally in December: “My whole year has been absolute crap, to be honest with you. I’ve been trying my backside off and getting nowhere. I’ve not been playing well.”
Aspinall, 31, faced Daryl Gurney after beating King. But he couldn’t continue his momentum, going down 6-5 in a tense finish against the Northern Irishman.
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