‘About to kill him’ – Ricky Evans’ playful World Championship antics fall flat as referee’s cold reaction says it all

Ricky Evans was met with a frosty response from referee Huw Ware during a frustrating leg of darts in his defeat to Charlie Manby.

PDC World Darts Championship debutant Manby continued his dream run at Alexandra Palace by winning 4-2 in their third round clash on Monday.

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The 20-year-old won three consecutive sets against ‘Rapid Ricky’ to set up a match against Gian van Veen in the last-16.

Manby showed composure in the final set to win with a double 16, moments after his opponent cut a discouraged figure at the oche.

Evans, who entertained the crowd by walking on to Like a Prayer by Madonna with pom-poms, struggled to deal with his younger opponent.

In the third leg of the sixth set, Evans trailed by over 300 before throwing a 20, only for his second dart to clip the first and fall onto the floor.

Evans walked ran up the board and shouted, ‘It’s in,’ as he appeared to suggest the dart landed on treble 20.

As he walked away, Ware was seen glaring towards him before calling his score of 40 once the third dart was thrown.

Commenting on the frost look, one X user simply stated: “Huw Ware about to kill Ricky Evans.”

Manby then proceeded to land his double 16 at the first time of asking to spark celebratory scenes.

Manby‘s warning to rivals

After beating Cameron Menzies and Adam Sevada, Manby paused for the Christmas break and returned to his bricklaying job.

But his return to Ally Pally against Evans has seen him land a huge payday, regardless of the result against Van Veen later this week.

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Manby has banked a minimum of £60,000 in prize money, which will increase to £100k should he reach the quarter-finals.

And when he spoke to talkSPORT after his victory, he sent a warning to his rivals about what they could come up against at the oche.

He said: “Put anyone in front of me.

“I haven’t even shown my A game yet, and that’s the beauty of it.

“I think it’s a matter of time before that comes out of me.

“I’m in the last-16 without even getting out of second gear, so that’s the dangerous thing that people might not see.”

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Van Veen will arrive as Manby’s next opponent following his 4-1 win over Madars Razma in the last 32.

The winner of their match will meet either 2024 champion Luke Humphries or Kevin Doets in the quarter-finals.