World Darts Championship: Martijn Kleermaker stuns Simon Whitlock at Alexandra Palace
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Martijn Kleermaker sets up a third round meeting with Joe Cullen
Dutch debutant Martijn Kleermaker knocked 20th seed Simon Whitlock out of the World Darts Championship with a 3-1 win to reach the third round.
After Covid-19 denied his bow at Alexandra Palace last year, he made up for lost time, condemning Whitlock to a 13th defeat in 18 matches.
Seeded pair Nathan Aspinall and Dirk van Duijvenbode both survived scares.
World number 10 Aspinall came from 2-1 down and survived a match dart to edge fellow Englishman Joe Murnan 3-2.
Aspinall wore a protective strap on his throwing arm after suffering from golfer's elbow and tendinitis.
"I've been advised to have three months off but it's not happening," Aspinall, semi-finalist in both of the last two years, told Sky Sports after hitting eight 180s.
"I had an injection last week. It's uncomfortable but I can still play and I've been practising really well.
"It's not nice but I can still win everything. I dug deep and never gave in.
"I can have two days off now with my family, enjoy Christmas, and then it's all forward for Gezzy's [Gerwyn Price] title."
Up next for Aspinall is a meeting with either Brendan Dolan or Callan Rydz in the last 32.
Dutchman Van Duijvenbode, seeded 17th, needed a tie-break to win 3-2 against Russian Boris Koltsov, but showed his class to seal victory with a double 19.
He will face Ross Smith in round three.
It was a high-paced, tense meeting, with both players missing opportunities to take control of the match and registering averages below 90.
Number 32 seed Kim Huybrechts took his time to get up to speed against Steve Beaton, but won 3-1 to set up a clash with Price.
It was much more straightforward in the afternoon session, with Ryan Searle, William O'Connor and Luke Humphries all coasting through with 3-0 victories.
Searle beat William Borland, O'Connor cruised past three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant and Humphries dispatched Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Joe Cullen, the 13th seed, won 3-2 against Jim Williams after being behind and will now meet Kleermaker, 30.
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