The World Darts Championship is finding its groove as cult heroes emerge and more upsets transpire.
Eight matches took place on Day Three of the Alexandra Palace competition, as another seed crashed out and Ryan Meikle and Fallon Sherrock produced a classic to compete against Luke Littler.
Here are five things we learned from the World Darts Championship Day Three.
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Ryan Meikle edges past Fallon Sherrock
In one of the most competitive first-round matches of the tournament so far, Meikle prevailed against the Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock.
It wasn’t a classic by any means, with both players only holding averages in the 80s, but Meikle’s quality shone through as he hit 111, 119, and 122 finishes as well as winning six legs on the bounce.
A stunning 12-dart break in the final leg set up a tantalising second-round match between the Ipswich thrower and Littler.
- MORE ON MEIKLE: Who is Ryan Meikle? Meet the former barber who could face Luke Littler at the World Championships
Peter Wright secures third round spot, but it wasn’t vintage
Peter Wright’s form has led many to worry about his World Darts Championship hopes and his match with Wesley Plaisier was a potential banana skin.
Wright secured his place in the third round, but it wasn’t pretty. Snakebite held an average of 89.63, which won’t do in the next round against Jermaine Wattimena.
This could be a building block for the veteran, and winning ugly is always a good sign, but he’ll have to score better if he wants to go deeper in the tournament.
- READ MORE: Peter Wright makes subtle dig at Luke Littler, says ‘he’s got to learn to lose before he wins’
Mike De Decker becomes second seed to crash out
Mike De Decker was hotly-tipped for a strong showing in the tournament, but his tournament was over before it really got going.
The World Grand Prix champion was let down by his poor doubling against Luke Woodhouse, hitting just 29.4% of his darts on the outer ring.
It was another low-scoring match-up, with both men averaging in the 80s, but Woodhouse is growing into this tournament and could be a threat in the third round.
The European Championship semi-finalist plays either Damon Heta or Connor Scutt in the third round.
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Rashad Sweeting becomes Ally Pally cult hero
It doesn’t take a lot to warm to darts fans if you show a bit of character and flamboyance and that’s exactly what happened with Rashad Sweeting.
The player became the first player from the Bahamas to play at the World Darts Championship and he became an Ally Pally legend when he hit his first 180 at the tournament.
Sweeting hit Cole Palmer’s ‘Cold’ celebration after being asked by a fan to do so when he hit a maximum. He may have lost to Jeffrey De Graaf 3-1 on the night, but he won the hearts of many fans.
Ricardo Pietreczko breezes into round two
Ricardo Pietreczko has stood out like a sore thumb as one of the qualifiers in the first round of the Alexandra Palace event.
The German star is arguably the best of the players outside the Top 32 at the event and he proved that by sweeping aside Xiaochen Zong in a straight sets victory.
Pikachu was outstanding on his finishing with a 56.3% success rate and he’ll play Gian Van Veen as a reward for his solid display.