This undated handout shows Canadian Jim (The Gentleman) Long in darts action. The 56-year-old retired autoworker from London, Ont., lost his first-round match to England’s James (Hillbilly) Hurrell on Tuesday at the 2.5-million-pound ($4.55 million) Paddy Power World Darts Championship in London, England. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)

LONDON - Canadian Jim (Gentleman) Long lost his first-round game at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship on Tuesday, beaten 3-0 by England's James (Hillbilly) Hurrell.

The 40-year-old Hurrell, ranked 89th on the Professional Darts Corporation Order of Merit, defeated the unranked Long 3-0, 3-1, 3-0.

Hurrell won the first leg with a 15-dart effort, clocking out with a Shanghai finish (triple-20, double-20 and 20 for 120). He stumbled at the end, missing seven match darts before finally landing a double-five to dispatch Long for his first-ever win at Alexandra Palace.

"Solid. That's my game. As long as I'm solid I'm good," said Hurrell, who earned his PFC Tour card in January.

Hurrell moves on to meet third-seeded Michael (Mighty Mike) van Gerwen. The Dutch star won the event in 2013-14, '16-17 and 18-19 and was runner-up in 2012-13, '19-20 and '22-23.

Long qualified for the world championship this year by virtue of being the top Canadian on the CDC, North America’s professional tour.

The 56-year-old from London, Ont., earned 7,500 pounds ($13,620) in his second trip to darts' biggest stage. The 2.5-million-pound purse ($4.54 million) comes with 500,000 pounds ($909,910) for the winner.

Six years ago, Long upset Northern Ireland's Mickey (The Clonoe Cyclone) Mansell in the first round before losing to Benito van de Pas, the 30th seed from the Netherlands.

Long, a retired autoworker, is travelling the world with his wife Rhonda and playing darts these days.

Hamilton's Matt (Ginja Ninja) Campbell, the other Canadian in the 96-player field, takes on Serbian-Austrian Mensur (The Gentle) Suljovic on Thursday for the right to face 20th seed Ryan Searle of England.

Campbell, a Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Tour cardholder, qualified by virtue of his winnings over the last year.

Long is going to Q-School in January in a bid to join Campbell on the PDC tour. If he doesn't make it, he'll look to compete on the PDC's second-tier Challenge Tour.

Canadian John (Darth Maple) Part won the competition in 2002-03, beating English legend Phil (The Power) Taylor to end his run of eight victories. Taylor bounced back to win the next three years before Part, now a well-known TV darts pundit, won again in 2007-08.

Canada is one of 28 nations represented at the world championship, including first-time entrants the Bahamas and Switzerland.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024