Darts: Shepherd gets the crook from Jones

Former finalist Kirk Shepherd suffered a first-round exit at the hands of 13th seed Wayne Jones in the PDC Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace last night.

Shepherd won the opening set but an erratic display thereafter saw him crash out 3-1. The 24-year-old reached the final two years ago, but he was only granted a place in the main draw this year after Australian Rob Modra failed to gain the required visa in time to allow him to fly to London.

As the highest-ranked non-qualifier Shepherd earned his place and looked like he could cause an upset after taking the opening set. Jones then peeled off the next six legs though to forge 2-1 ahead, and Shepherd missed four darts in the fifth leg before being dumped out.