Five of the biggest World Darts Championship shocks – Barney ...

Already today, James Wade has bowed out in straight sets to Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena.

With that in mind, here is five of the biggest shocks in the the competition’s history.

Adrian Lewis vs Kevin Munch, 2017 first round

The early rounds often give us surprising results, but very few saw this coming.

Former back-to-back world champion, Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis took to the stage having never lost in the first round and as the red-hot favourite against 29-year-old Kevin Munch, who won the German Super league finals a month previous to seal a second appearance at the tournament and had given up his job as a landscape gardener to turn professional.

German Munch, who won the night's preliminary match against Aleksandr Oreshkin to set up his showdown with the world No 7, produced a sensational comeback as he fought back from a set down for a 3-1 victory, hitting three ton-plus finishes in the process.

Lewis’ first round exit will go down as one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history.

Raymond van Barneveld vs Michael van Gerwen, 2016 third round

Raymond van Barneveld came into the 2016 World Darts Championship as an outsider, especially when he came up against the man who has taken over him as the Dutch number one and the world number one, Michael van Gerwen.

Former champion van Gerwen was a heavy favourite heading into the tournament and brought his A game to his compatriot, but he was matched every step of the way by the five-time champion of the world.

‘Barney’ brought heavy scoring and ruthless finishing to the ‘Ally Pally’ stage in what was an all-time classic.

2014 champion Van Gerwen took the opening set and seemed set to continue his rampant form at this competition.

But Van Barneveld went toe to toe with ‘MVG,’ going 2-1 and then 3-2 ahead after Van Gerwen had levelled things up at 2-2, with a stunning 170 checkout.

Van Gerwen then took it to a decider, levelling the game at three sets apiece with a sensational 121 finish. But Van Barneveld showed his experience to hold his nerve in the final set and take a memorable 4-3 victory.

The quality of this battle was highlighted by Van Gerwen's three-dart average of 105.78 being the highest ever by a losing player in the tournament's history.

Michael Smith vs Phil Taylor, 2014 second round

Seven years before his incredible nine-dart finishes and World Championship triumph, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith was the World Youth Champion heading into a second-round clash with the defending champion and a man in search of his 17th world title, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor.

Smith was a big underdog, and people didn’t give him much of a chance, especially when Taylor won the first leg with a 156 checkout and didn't miss a double for the first set.

It looked like it was just going to be a formality for Taylor, but Smith played the game of his life in a brilliant match.

It was on a knife edge until Smith suddenly produced brilliant darts in the final set, breaking Phil Taylor in the fifth leg. In the sixth leg - the tie-breaker - he took out 128 memorably on the bullseye for a 12-dart leg to win 4-3.

A famous night for the man who would go onto win the tournament seven years later.

Raymond van Barneveld vs James Richardson, 2011 first round

Five years before his heroics against Van Gerwen, Van Barneveld was on the other end of a huge shock.

James ‘Ruthless’ Richardson was ranked 85th in the world and a complete unknown and when the five-time champion of the world hit a 180 to start, it was expected that Van Barneveld would make light work of Richardson.

That was until the bricklayer by day turned into a darting machine. He won three sets 3-0, took out two 145 finishes, and a 120 checkout.

The ‘Ally Pally’ was in shock as Van Barneveld’s doubling deserted him and Richardson punished him.

Richardson lost in the next round, suffered a first-round exit two years later and has not been seen on the darts circuit since.

Rob Cross vs Phil Taylor, 2018 final

Taylor’s fairytale ending was set perfectly but it was Cross, appearing in his first World Championships at the age of 27, who looked nerveless throughout as he set a blistering pace that proved too hot for the 16-time world champion.

Taylor, 57, was aiming to end his illustrious career in fairytale fashion but would not have envisaged the kind of performance Cross was to produce.

Cross averaged a remarkable 107.67, hit 11 180s and had a checkout percentage of 60 to end his first year as a professional on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit in style.

Former electrician Cross turned off 'The Power' for the final time claiming a stunning 7-2 victory at Alexandra Palace, sealing the deal with a 140 checkout, something we have seen on a regular basis from ‘Voltage’ since.