STUART Kellett is still to savour a victory on stage at the Professional Darts Corporation World Championship after suffering a surprise first-round exit on Friday.

The Northwich ace, the competition’s 32nd seed, misses out on a prized tie with defending champion Michael van Gerwen after losing to qualifier Sascha Stein.

Kellett struggled to recover from a slow start at London's Alexandra Palace, averaging just 73 in a scrappy contest that ended 3-1 shortly before midnight.

The 33-year-old missed six darts at a double in the opening set before his opponent landed a double 11 to claim a third straight leg.

Stein finished 81 at the start of the second set before Kellett, after hitting a first maximum, hit double 16 to get on the card.

He quickly repeated the trick, only for Stein to break throw to level at 2-2.

The German then let Kellett off the hook by missing tops in a deciding leg, the Cheshire thrower checking out 52 – despite scoring five with his first dart – to claim a first set on his third appearance at the annual showpiece.

His previous two visits had ended in 3-0 defeats.

Kellett led for the first time after taking the opening leg of the third set following three missed double attempts by Stein, who did the same in the next only to recover by hitting double eight.

A 180 in the third leg left Stein, who had earlier seen off Finn Kim Viljanen in the preliminary round, with 57 which he mopped up before producing a 14-darter to move 2-1 ahead.

Kellett could not replicate his display from 12 months ago, when he produced his highest average in a televised encounter despite losing to Paul Nicholson.

He missed tops for a 120 checkout at the start of the fourth set, an error punished by Stein’s double eight.

The qualifier then landed double 16 to close to within a leg of victory.

Kellett matched that feat, after Stein had missed two match darts, before further extending the contest with the first ton-plus finish – a fine 108 – after Stein fluffed another match dart.

It proved only a temporary reprieve, for the German kept calm to complete a 79 finish on the bull to set up a 32 date with the world number one.

Here's how the Northwich thrower reacted afterwards:
 


And confirmation of the result: