David Pallett is left ruing draw after Barney defeat
Darts star David Pallett was cursing his luck of the draw after he was pipped to the post by five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld at the PDC's UK Open on Friday night.
It is the third successive year that Pallett has drawn a top seed at an early stage in the competition and, despite joking that there may be someone who does not want him to progress, he was relatively happy with pushing former world champion 'Barney' all the way.
It was the only third time the two have ever met competitively at the oche and the first at a PDC major, with van Barneveld winning the previous two clashes.
This would prove to be their closest affair yet, with the two swapping the initiative all match. Pallett led 7-6, but failed to surge ahead.
That said, it still needed magic from van Barneveld to get himself over the line, with the best-of-17 tie going to a deciding leg.
An 11-dart leg came arrived to leave Pallett shaking his head and the Dutchman celebrating. "I'm a bit gutted that I didn't capitalise earlier on," he admitted.
"He was playing a steady game then he scored a nine-darter and it reminded you who you were up against.
"I'm happy that I'm improving and that shows in my scores against Barney.
"I've faced Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and now van Berneveld so I've been a little unlucky with early draws!"
The unseeded 128-player field is made up of the top 96 in the UK Open Order of Merit, played between the pros, and 32 wildcards from qualifiers at Rileys Sports Clubs across the country.
Newport star Pallett entered at the second-round stage after finishing 35th on the Order of Merit, based on six qualifiers, with the top 32 coming in at the third round stage.
The Shropshire thrower eased through after a comprehensive win over Jason Marriott in his afternoon game, winning 6-1
That set up a clash with the Dutchman, three-time winner of the BDO world title and twice the PDC crown, in the evening's session.
