Tipperary's Dylan Slevin knocked out of World Darts Championship despite 167 finish

Tipperary’s Dylan Slevin bowed out at the first attempt at the PDC World Darts Championship last Sunday night, as the Borrisokane 21-year-old fell to Germany’s Florian Hempel in the first round.

Despite throwing well in stages, Florian Hempel showed his experience to best Slevin 3-1 in sets.

After a slow start from both players, the second set saw the quality increase and it would come down to a deciding leg. The Borrisokane man missed 3 darts for the set but Hempel made no mistake in drawing level at one set each.

The German would then go on to win the next two sets averaging over 91 and record his third win of his career on the big stage.

Dylan raised the roof with a 167 checkout along with 4 180s in an impressive debut performance where he averaged over 90.

The loss brings to an end a successful first season on the PDC Pro Tour and the Borrisokane man now looks ahead to his second year on tour in 2024.