World Darts Championship 2024: Four things we learnt from the opening night

The World Darts Championship got underway at Alexandra Palace (Ally Pally to arrows fans) on Sunday night, with world number one Luke Humphries in action among others.

Sports News Blitz's darts expert James Melloy takes a look at what we learnt from the four games that were played on the opening night.

Thibaut Tricole too cool for Joe Comito

France’s number one Thibaut Tricole beat Joe Comito 3-1 to end up playing against Luke Humphries in the second round, however he made hard work of it and nearly let Comito complete an impressive comeback.

Comito for sure will be back, with the crowd seeming to be loving the Australian as the game went on.

Jermaine Wattimena off to a good start

Setting up a clash with James Wade, Jermaine Wattimena couldn’t have asked for a better start, beating Stefan Bellmont, Switzerland's first ever player at Ally Pally, 3-0.

If he plays like he did versus Bellmont, Wattimena could cause some problems for Wade.

Keane Barry looks the real deal

Irishman Keane Barry, 22, looks to be some talent after beating Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts 3-1 to set up a clash against the ‘Iceman’ Gerwyn Price.

The manner of the victory for Barry caught people’s attention as he made it look easy - and Price will have to be on it when these two play against each other.

A comfortable start for defending champion

Defending champion Luke Humphries got off to a winning start on opening night, comfortably beating France’s Thibaut Tricola 3-0, with a brilliant 160 checkout in the middle of it.

Humphries barely got out of first gear, however Tricola didn’t make the most of the rare opportunities when Humphries let him get back into the game.

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