DARTS fans demanded a redraw after the UK Open draw descended into chaos.
Because by the end there was still a ball left in the bowl.
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Compere John McDonald was overseeing proceedings for the fifth-round draw of the ‘FA Cup of darts’ in Minehead live on ITV4.
But there was confusion after the very first tie came out.
Ryan Searle was pitted against Luke Humphries in the opening pairing.
But after picking out Humphries’ No23 ball, journalist Ned Boulting inexplicably put it back into the drum – instead of on the stand.
With that, the already-drawn number was mixed back in with the other 30 left.
McDonald immediately pointed out the error to Boulting and admonished him as he seemingly tried to dig out No23 again.
But before he could try and do so, McDonald made sure he left it in the bowl – then gave his colleague an almighty death stare.
And crucially, the draw was allowed to continue.
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Incredibly, in a freak twist, the No23 was not picked out again as the remaining 30 balls were drawn.
And at the end of the draw, the No23 ball remained rolling around at the bottom of the bowl as McDonald confirmed the conclusion – before immediately turning to talk to Boulting again.
Speaking on ITV, presenter Jacqui Oatley quickly addressed the blunder but confirmed: “It’s okay, the draw was totally legitimate.”
However, darts supporters watching the draw unfold could not believe it was allowed to stand.
One tweeted: “Dodgy UK Open draw there…. how is there a ball left in the drum?”
Another wrote: “Pretty certain a mix up with the UK Open darts draw. A ball still left in the pot and I’m sure Ned Boulting put his first pick back in! @ITVX @OfficialPDC redraw needed?”
A third said: “Did Ned just get incredibly lucky there during the UK Open draw? He put the first ball he drew out back in the pot, but somehow it didn’t get drawn back out?!”
UK Open fifth-round draw in full
- Ryan Searle v Luke Humphries
- Dave Chisnall v Krzysztof Ratajski
- Mensur Suljovic v William O’Connor
- Rob Cross v Danny Noppert
- Josh Rock v Ross Smith
- Madars Razma v Michael Smith
- Alan Soutar v Jonny Clayton
- Gian van Veen v Stephen Burton
- Jurjen van der Velde v Nathan Aspinall
- Cameron Menzies v James Wade
- Rob Owen v Michael van Gerwen
- Luke Littler v Jermaine Wattimena
- Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chris Dobey
- Martin Schindler v Dylan Slevin
- Danny Lauby v Ryan Joyce
- Connor Scutt v Damon Heta
A fourth added: “That darts UK Open draw has to be re-drawn surely… he’s stuck a ball back in there after drawing it out.”
And a final user commented: “That draw for the Darts UK Open surely a fix?”
In another apparent mistake, the ITV graphic read “fourth round draw” when in fact it was the draw for the fifth round.
The last-32 ties will take place on Saturday during the day session with the last-16 matches in the evening.
Humphries survived an almighty scare against Beau Greaves in round four before being set up to face Searle next in the bizarre circumstances.
That promises to be one of the standout ties of round five while Luke Littler faces Jermaine Wattimena, it is Dimitri Van den Bergh vs Chris Dobey and Cameron Menzies takes on James Wade.
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