Former World Championship semi-finalist Wayne Mardle has criticised the quality of the dart boards that are being used in the ongoing tournament at Alexandra Palace.
Dave Chisnall's 3-0 victory over Ryan de Vreede last night was marred on numerous occasions by darts dropping out of the board and on to the floor.
Thirty-four-year-old Chisnall was using new arrows, but De Vreede was not, which has brought about Sky Sports News pundit Mardle calling for improvements to be made.
"Well [Chisnall] said he's changed his darts and maybe he should have roughed the points up, but I just found it a bit of a coincidence that is was happening to Ryan as well. There were too many for me, too many points on the board," he said.
"They are falling out slowly. The points could have been too smooth like Dave said, but for it to happen to Ryan as well - for me it was too much of a coincidence. The quality of the boards in my opinion is not good enough anyway and they've been poor for a while.
"It's got to be addressed. But Dave did say that maybe he should have roughed his points up. The trouble is with the dartboards, you don't know until you start playing, and you don't know until you start throwing - and that's what happened today. With the board and the points it's a recipe for disaster."
Chisnall will now take on Benito van de Pas for a place in the third round.
Liam Apicella
