Momentum is everything in sport, and it can often take no time at all for the scales of power to slide.
As Scott Waites found out first-hand at the 2023 German Darts Championship on Friday, where he became the first player of the tournament to register a nine-darter. 'Scotty 2 Hotty' also unsurprisingly boasts the competition's high checkout after wrapping up a magnificent ninth leg against George Killington with a 141 checkout.
But that was as good as it got for the Yorkshireman, who failed to back up that breakthrough in the manner it deserved. Especially after darts ace Waites had fought back from two legs down to briefly snatch the lead in what proved to be a highly entertaining clash.
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There was rarely much to separate Waites and Killington, and it was only at the sixth time of asking that the latter secured the match's first break. Killington capitalised on his opponent's wastefulness to go 4-2 ahead at the time, only for Waites to hit back in furious fashion.
'Scotty' proceeded to win the next three legs in a row and put himself on the verge of a second-round appearance. But what followed was a menagerie of misses just when a bit of composure was needed.
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The 10th leg saw Waites miss a couple of chances to close out the match, finishing with four left on the board as his foe completed a 96 checkout. But it was in the 11th and final leg that the pressure really appeared to tell as the two-time WDF world champion saw his scores tumble.
Waites' last six darts were worth a combined 159, giving himself two chances at double 12 before settling for singles on both that and the six. It gave Killington the only chance he required to clean up 54 and send the nine-dart hero tumbling out in Hildesheim.
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Since winning the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts, success on the PDC circuit has dried up for Waites in recent years. And despite reaching the second round in Hungary earlier in October, he was unable to repeat that success on the European Tour this time around.
Dave Chisnall is the top seed in Hildesheim as he goes in search of the £30,000 top prize. However, he'll face stiff competition from the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright and newly crowned World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries
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