Darts star heavily booed after disappointing Ally Pally crowd on opening night of World Championship
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Australian darts star Joe Comito found out the hard way just how brutal the Alexandra Palace crowd can be during his defeat to Thibault Tricole in the opening match of the 2025 World Darts Championships.
The season-ending tournament officially got underway on Sunday evening with Luke Humphries already booking his spot in the third round with a comfortable win over Tricole.
The match against Humphries was Tricole's second of the night as he already featured earlier in the evening.
The Frenchman faced off against Comito, who was making his World Darts Championship debut after qualifying through the DartPlayers Australia ProTour.
Joe Comito apologised for not going after the 180
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Comito wasted no time in embracing the big stage as he hit the tournament's first 180 during the second set against Tricole.
The crowd were on their feet after his maximum with the noise levels increasing inside Alexandra Palace.
But they jokingly turned on Comito in the third set when he looked on course to hit another 180 before taking a moment to compose himself before his final dart.
The crowd jeered as Comito stepped back from the oche with a smile on his face and the noise level began to increase.
The Aussie darts star, who was trailing 2-0 in sets to Tricole at the time, then opted to go for treble 19 to the bitter disappointment of the crowd.
There were loud boos from the stands as Comito retrieved his darts, who laughed and held his hands up in apology.
Comito ended up missing the treble 19, which left him needing 134 to stay in the match against Tricole.
The Frenchman failed to take his opportunity to end the match in that leg though as Comito took the third set with a 52 checkout.
Joe Comito saw the funny side of the exchange
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Comito landed his third maximum of the night in the fourth set with the crowd very much on his side to pull off an almighty comeback against Tricole.
But the 43-year-old eventually gets punished for missing double 20 with Tricole securing the victory with a double 16 finish.
Tricole had just two hours to compose himself after that win before facing the defending world champion.
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Joe Comito is enjoying himself on the Ally Pally stage 🤣 pic.twitter.com/JLXEegmuPl
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) December 15, 2024
Humphries never looked in doubt of winning the match as he won all nine legs with an impressive checkout of 160 at one stage.
The world No 1 is expected to face No 32 seed Raymond van Barneveld in the third round, who faces either Nick Kenny or Stowe Buntz next.
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