Championship

Joe Cullen says opponent Mensur Suljovic’s slow style of play is akin to cheating after the 32nd seed was knocked out.

Austrian Suljovic denied using any specific tactics in his second-round success.

“I never ever do this as a provocation,” said the 53-year-old. “I do it only for my game. Sorry Joe, I never do this – love you man.”

England’s Cullen won the first set, but became the 11th seed to crash out as he lost the following three, including throwing away a 2-1 lead in the fourth set.

Referring to the way that Suljovic slowed down play, Cullen said in a post on X: “If that’s darts, I don’t want no part of it.

“Always liked Mensur away from the board but that was plain for all to see! I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way. The old guard will say it’s part of the game but word it how you will – it’s cheating. That’s not darts.”

After the match, the 36-year-old shook his head as he picked up his darts case and turned to glare at the Austrian, who celebrated his win in front of the crowd.

The PDC does not have a specific, timed rule for pace of play, but deliberate slow play intended to disrupt an opponent is considered unsportsmanlike conduct and a potential rules breach.

Suljovic is next in line to take on defending champion Luke Littler, who faces David Davies on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, 2018 champion and 17th seed Rob Cross managed to avoid a deciding set against Ian White as he won a nervy encounter 3-1.

Krzysztof Ratajski beat Ryan Joyce 3-1 to reach the third round, while Luke Woodhouse cruised past Max Hopp with a victory in straight sets.

Kenyan debutant David Munyua caused a huge shock at the PDC World Championship, coming from two sets down to beat world number 18 Mike de Decker 3-2 at Alexandra Palace.

It was an enthralling encounter to end the afternoon session on Thursday, with Munyua missing darts to win the second set, doing the same in the third but coming back to win it, edging the fourth and coming back to win the fifth.

The 30-year-old, who qualified via the African Darts Group Qualifier, was broken in the first leg of the decider but produced an astounding outer bull-treble 20-bullseye 135 finish to level the fifth set, before holding his nerve to complete victory.

Another debutant, Japan’s Motomu Sakai, looked to have stolen the show earlier in the afternoon session as he beat Thibault Tricole of France in straight sets.

Sakai gained the support of the Alexandra Palace crowd with a long, exuberant walk-on and was a showman who played up to the fans throughout his match.

Elsewhere, world number 24 Ryan Joyce produced a composed display to see off fellow Englishman Owen Bates, averaging 95.27 and hitting nine of his 14 attempts at double.

Thursday’s other winner was world number 42 Callan Rydz, who only dropped three legs as he comfortably won 3-0 against Hungary’s Patrik Kovacs.

Hardy Nickerson, a Verbum Dei grad who played linebacker at Cal, made the Pro Bowl five times, coached in college and the NFL and did two stints as head coach at Bishop O’Dowd in San Jose, has been named head football coach at JSerra.

Nickerson, 60, becomes the first Black head football coach in the Trinity League since it was formed in 2008.

JSerra is hoping to strike gold like Santa Margarita did in hiring Heisman Trophy winner and 15-year NFL quarterback Carson Palmer, who delivered a Southern Section Division 1 championship and CIF state championship Open Division bowl win this year in his rookie season as head coach. Palmer used his NFL connections to put together a top-notch group of assistant coaches.

Nickerson also has lots of NFL connections and far more coaching experience than Palmer. He once was defensive coordinator at Illinois, served as an NFL assistant with the 49ers, Bears and Buccaneers and and has been head coach at Bishop O’Dowd from 2010-13 and from 2022 through this season, when his team won a state Division 5-AA championship.

He takes over a program that went 3-7 last season and cut ties with former Azusa Pacific head coach Victor Santa Cruz. Nickerson will soon learn that coaching in the Trinity League is similar to college and the NFL, where teams expect to win or there is little assurance of keeping a job for long.

Englishman James Wade began his PDC World Darts Championship campaign with a 3-0 triumph over Ryusei Azemoto, while Raymond van Barneveld suffered a shock first-round exit.

Five-time world champion Van Barneveld looked out of sorts as he went down in straight sets to Stefan Bellmont, the first Swiss winner at Alexandra Palace.

Seventh seed Wade only let one leg slip in a dominant victory against Japan’s Azemoto.

“Tonight showed the practice I’ve been doing. It wasn’t spectacular but when I really needed to hit something, it happened,” said four-time semi-finalist Wade.

He finished with an average of 94.75, compared to Azemoto’s 84.42, and the 42-year-old will take on Ricky Evans in the second round on Monday.

Van Barneveld looked a shadow of the player who won four BDO world titles before lifting the PDC crown in 2007.

The 58-year-old Dutchman took the opening leg but then lost eight in succession.

Despite a higher average than his opponent, he checked out just 25% of his doubles while Bellmont hit 39%.

American debutant Adam Sevada came out on top in the the first game on Wednesday, seeing off Canadian Matt Campbell 3-1.

It was tight for much of their encounter but Sevada’s marginally better performance on doubles made the difference as he won 11 legs to Campbell’s six.

McErlean said securing a second season with M-Sport “means everything” after a solid rookie campaign.

After a late deal to drive in the WRC, McErlean finished seventh on his debut in Monte Carlo and equalled that result in Finland and the Central European Rally.

“I’m incredibly grateful to M-Sport and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for continuing to believe in me and giving me the chance to build properly,” McErlean said.

“To have another season at this level means a lot. I’m in a completely different place mentally compared to this time last year, stronger, clearer, and ready to enjoy the challenge ahead.

“2025 was all about learning, learning the car, the championship, the rhythm of Rally1, and what it really takes, mentally and physically, to operate at this level week in, week out.

“We made real progress across the season, and I could feel things starting to click more and more as the year went on.”

Millener said McErlean’s progression in his first season was “very clear to see”.

“It’s great to be able to give them the opportunity to continue this upward trajectory.

“Away from the events, they have both become much-valued members of the team and I’m really looking forward to working with them again.”

The deals for McErlean and Armstrong strengthen the links between M-Sport and Motorsport Ireland, and the remainder of the Cumbrian’s outfit’s line-up will be announced in due course.

Cameron Menzies angrily punched a drinks table after a five-set defeat by highly rated Charlie Manby in the first round of the PDC World Championship.

The 26th seed from Scotland hit the underside of the table three times before holding his hand up in apology to the Alexandra Palace crowd as he left the stage.

Menzies, 36, was pictured with blood pouring from a gash on his right hand.

He had led 1-0 and 2-1 in sets before 20-year-old English debutant Manby fought back and clinched victory with his seventh match dart.

Former Premier League champion Glen Durrant – commentating on the subsequent match for Sky Sports – said: “Charlie Manby is a superstar in the making. Sometimes you can build a player up at 20 years old. We thought it was going to be the match of the afternoon and it delivered.

“But it wasn’t the ending we all want to see. For Cameron Menzies, I think he will regret that for the rest of his life. It was not a good watch.”

Co-commentator Stuart Pyke added: “I agree, [it was] an extraordinary reaction but we saw him walking off stage and he did put up his hand in apology. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Players can be sanctioned under Darts Regulation Authority rules for aggressive, disruptive or abusive behaviour.

It is the second year running that Menzies has been knocked out in the first round after he broke down in tears during and following his exit to Leonard Gates last December.

Menzies later revealed his father Ricky had been ill in hospital at the time, and spoke before this tournament, external about the recent death of his uncle.

Kumar’s scoring was inferior to Veenstra’s, but his finishing proved crucial, boasting a 75% checkout success and hitting all his last seven doubles.

“I don’t know what to say right now. I’m overwhelmed, I’m happy,” said Kumar, who is nicknamed ‘The Royal Bengal’.

“If you dream it, anything is possible. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I saw Dennis Priestley win the World Championship (in 1994).”

Asked about what his victory could do for darts in India, he said: “I’ve opened the floodgates to a billion of them.

“I’m sorry, 10 years down the line if you have eight people in the World Championship walking on to Bollywood music, don’t blame me.”

Veenstra hit five 100-plus finishes, with his highest coming at 144. Kumar was not as flamboyant with his scoring, but proved to be incredibly consistent as the crowd roared him on.

Three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant said on Sky Sports: “It was one of the greatest games I have ever commentated on.

“It’s not just the quality of the match, it’s the impact for Nitin Kumar and what it does for Indian darts.”

Two seeds exited the competition on Sunday – world number 23 Dimitri van den Bergh and 27th-ranked Ritchie Edhouse.

Belgium’s Van den Bergh was out of sorts from the first dart and was comfortably beaten 3-0 by Scottish debutant Darren Beveridge.

In the afternoon session, Edhouse was knocked out by Jonny Tata, who was also making his first appearance.

Former European champion Edhouse was stunned 3-0 by the New Zealander, to taste defeat at this stage for the fourth time in a row.

But the same fate did not follow fellow seed Joe Cullen after he eased past Bradley Brooks with a 3-0 win.

The world number 32 was in fine form to produce his second-highest average on the world stage with 99.33.

Another debutant, Englishman Dom Taylor, progressed to the second round with a 3-0 win over Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak.

Meanwhile, the evening session saw the Netherlands’ Lukas Wenig beat Wesley Plaiser 3-1 while England’s James Hurrell beat Stowe Buntz by the same scoreline.

Paul Lim became the oldest player to win a match at the PDC World Championship as the 71-year-old claimed a stunning victory over Jeffrey de Graaf.

Backed by a partisan crowd at the Alexandra Palace, the Singapore veteran claimed a 3-1 success over the Dutch-born Swede.

He beat a record held by Northern Irishman John MaGowan, who was 67 when he knocked out Chris Mason in the first round of the tournament in December 2008.

“A moment like this has kept me going for all these years,” said Lim.

“The standard of play nowadays is not like how it was before. This tournament is the Super Bowl of darts so I would say this is a good moment.”

Lim will face Luke Humphries in the second round after the 2024 world champion progressed with a 3-1 win over Ted Evetts in his opening match later on Saturday evening.

Humphries had cruised into a 2-0 lead against his fellow Englishman before Evetts pinched a set back.

However, 30-year-old Humphries regained his intensity and clinically finished out the contest with an average of 98.58, throwing eight 180s.

Lim, who thew the first world championship nine-darter at the BDO event at Lakeside in 1990, beat Humphries when the pair last met at the Ally Pally five years ago.

On meeting again, Humphries told Sky Sports: “He’s amazing, he’s a legend. The crowd are going to be against me so it’s going to be a tough game.”

Lim said: “I hope on a given day it can happen again. I never give up. He is good but he can be beaten.”

The crowd roared on Lim, who is 72 next month, when he won the first set against De Graaf befofe his opponent levelled the match.

Lim went ahead again after a scrappy third set as De Graaf wilted while the experienced ‘Singapore Slinger’ held his nerve in a tense fourth, sealing victory with an average of 86.52.

Five-time world championship semi-finalist Wayne Mardle said Lim was able to “take his chances” against De Graaf to secure an “incredible” win.

“If you have the desire, the passion but most of all the ability humans can achieve amazing things – and that was amazing,” said Mardle on Sky.

De Graaf was six years old when Lim made his PDC debut 29 years ago.

Elsewhere, Wessel Nijman of the Netherlands eased to a 3-0 win over Czech Karel Sedlacek while Germany’s Gabriel Clemens beat American Alex Spellman by the same scoreline.

CIF STATE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIPS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

At Saddleback College

DIVISION 1-AA

Folsom 42, San Diego Cathedral Catholic 28

DIVISION 2-AA

Stockton St. Mary’s 27, Bakersfield Christian 24

At Fullerton High

DIVISION 3-AA

San Francisco St. Ignatius College Prep 42, Ventura 35

DIVISION 6-AA

Valley Center 36, San Jose Lincoln 35

At Buena Park High

DIVISION 4-AA

Barstow 17, Sutter 7

DIVISION 5-AA

Oakland Bishop O’Dowd 37, El Cajon Christian 0

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Saddleback College

OPEN DIVISION

Santa Margarita (10-3) vs. Concord De la Salle (12-0), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 1-A

Oxnard Pacifica (15-0) vs. Fresno Central East (13-1), 3:30 p.m.

DIVISION 2-A

Rio Hondo Prep (15-0) vs. Sonora (14-0), 11:30 a.m.

At Fullerton High

DIVISION 3-A

Delano Kennedy (11-3) vs. Oakland McClymonds (10-2), 7 p.m.

DIVISION 6-A

San Diego Morse (10-4) vs. Winters (13-1), 3 p.m.

DIVISION 7-AA

Woodbridge (7-8) vs. Redding Christian (14-0), 11 a.m.

At Buena Park High

DIVISION 4-A

Beckman (12-3) vs. El Cerrito (12-2), 7 p.m.

DIVISION 5-A

Bishop Union (12-3) vs. Calaveras (11-2), 3 p.m.

DIVISION 7-A

South El Monte (11-4) vs. San Francisco Balboa (11-2), 11 a.m.

European champion Gian van Veen has booked his place in the second round of the PDC World Championship but 12th seed Ross Smith suffered a shock first-round exit.

Expectations are high for Van Veen after a successful 2025 and, after falling at the first hurdle in his two previous visits to Alexandra Palace, there will have been an element of relief following his 3-1 win over Spain’s Cristo Reyes.

The Dutch 10th seed, a two-time world youth champion, battled to victory in the first set despite being short of his best before stepping it up in the second, averaging 107, to go 2-0 up.

Reyes hit back in the third after taking out 167 to win the first leg and earned a break in the fourth, only for Van Veen to show his grit and come back to secure his first win at the tournament.

“Finally across that line,” the 23-year-old, who averaged 98.91, told Sky Sports.

“Today, walking on this stage, you feel like a 16-year-old again – I was so nervous! But as soon as the first darts went in, I was like ‘OK, you belong here’.”

But while Van Veen can prepare for round two, Smith is heading home after a 3-2 loss to 50-year-old debutant Andreas Harrysson of Sweden.

Smith missed six match darts in the fourth set and was made to pay as Harryson pressed on to win the deciding set by three legs to one.

Also in the evening session, England’s Ricky Evans beat Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung 3-0 and Australian 16th seed Damon Heta earned a 3-1 win over Ireland’s Steve Lennon.

Elsewhere on the opening night, 2023 world champion Michael Smith beat Women’s World Matchplay winner Lisa Ashton 3-0.

Ashton, who had the majority of the crowd on her side, won two of the first three legs but Englishman Smith, 35, then put together a run of seven successive legs on his way to securing a spot in the last 64.

“That first set was nerve-wracking,” Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live. “As soon as I walked out, the crowd was on me straight away.

“I expected it but I thought if I go 1-0 down, it was going to get worse and worse.

“I tried to force things that weren’t there, but when I took that first set, it was happy days. I started to settle in then and nearly threw it away in the last set, but we’ll take the win.”

German debutant Arno Merk and Latvia’s Madars Razma also made it through to round two with 3-1 wins against Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts and Dutchman Jamai van den Herik respectively.

A total of 128 players are competing in the World Championship, up from 96 last year, for an increased first prize of £1m.

The first round is scheduled to conclude on Friday, 19 December, with the final taking place on Saturday, 3 January 2026.

Prepare for lots of tears this weekend at the CIF state championship football games in Orange County.

“No doubt,” Ventura High quarterback Derek Garcia said.

Seniors are playing in their final high school football games. Others will never play again unless it’s intramural football. And others are heading off to college in a matter of days as scholarship athletes, so win or lose, change is coming, which will challenge emotions when reality sets in.

“It’s been a great feeling all week knowing this will be my final high school game because most of the time you go in it’s up in the air,” Garcia said. “Win and you keep going or lose and you go home. It’s a great feeling we made it this far and we’re in the last possible game to play. We’re ready to go.”

Garcia has been playing for his father, Tim, Ventura’s head coach, for years. Now it will end on Friday in a Division 3-AA final against San Francisco St. Ignatius at 8 p.m. at Fullerton High before heading off to Nevada Las Vegas.

“It’s hard sometimes, but it’s been able to bring us so many memories and so many great times together,” Garcia said. “It’s been an awesome journey and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Some of the teams in state championship games are playing in their 16th game in a long, memorable season.

“It’s been cool to still be playing,” Garcia said.

On Jan. 18, he moves into his UNLV dorm, driving his truck and relying on his parents to help him move. But will his mom let him leave the family nest?

“We’ll see when the day comes,” he said.

Yes, it’s that time for tears from football players and their parents.

There’s a tripleheader on Saturday at Saddleback College that should produce memorable games.

Open Division

De La Salle (12-0) vs. Santa Margarita (10-3), 8 p.m.

A Northern California team has not won in the state’s highest division since 2015. De La Salle’s speed could produce some big plays against the state’s best defense, particularly if 100-meter record holder Jaden Jefferson gets room to run. But Santa Margarita has its own big-play weapon in Trent Mosley, who had 10 catches for 292 yards two weeks ago against Corona Centennial. The pick: Santa Margarita.

Division 1-A

Oxnard Pacifica (15-0) vs. Fresno Central East (13-1), 3:30 p.m.

This is a battle of junior quarterbacks. Pacifica’s Taylor Lee has has passed for 3,742 yards and 51 touchdowns. East has passed for 4,298 yards and 56 touchdowns. If you like offense, this could be the most entertaining game. The pick: Pacifica.

Division 2-A

Rio Hondo Prep (15-0) vs. Sonora (14-0), 11:30 a.m.

This is the game where small schools finally get the spotlight. Both love to run the ball, so the game might get completed in less than two hours. Sonora rushed for 340 yards in its regional final. Rio Hondo Prep had 263 yards rushing and attempted one pass. The pick: Sonora.

Division: 3-AA

Ventura (13-2) vs. San Francisco St. Ignatius (8-6), 8 p.m., Friday, at Fullerton High

Garcia has passed for 3,360 yards and 36 touchdowns and has rushed for 750 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Cougars also have Oregon-bound linebacker Tristan Phillips. St. Ignatius is on a six-game winning streak after getting more consistent play at quarterback. The pick: Ventura.