‘Don’t see that every day’ – Ref blunder at Players Championship 1 sees full leg wiped

William O’Connor had to overcome a refereeing error during his second-round match at Players Championship 1.

The Irishman was in action at the first PDC ProTour event of the year in Hildesheim, Germany, on Monday.

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After seeing off Yorick Hofkens in the first round, O’Connor faced Mario Vandenbogaerde in the last 64.

The pair traded breaks of throw in the opening two legs to leave the match level at 1-1.

Vandenbogaerde pinned double eight to recover from losing the opening leg on his own throw.

However, this was followed by a bizarre moment after O’Connor had started the third leg with a score of 44.

As his Belgian opponent returned to the oche, the referee realised they had made a mistake.

Vandenbogaerde should have been throwing first in the leg instead of O’Connor.

Following a brief stoppage in play due to the blunder, the official confirmed the leg would be restarted with the scores erased.

PDC commentator Abigail Davies was left stunned as she reacted to the incident.

She exclaimed: “Well, you don’t see that everyday, do you? I think that is the first time I have ever seen this. They have just seen the light.”

Former PDC World Darts Championship quarter-finalist Paul Nicholson added: “I can’t say I have seen that before on a livestream anyway.

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“I have seen it in the old days when we had the pen and the board on the wall. But the leg has been scrubbed.”

Fortunately for O’Connor, the mishap failed to put him off his stride.

Instead, the world No.43 reeled off the next five legs to cruise to a 6-1 victory.

He would follow it up by beating two-time world champion Gary Anderson in the third round.

However, O’Connor was ultimately beaten 6-4 by Wessel Nijman at the last 16 stage.

The 39-year-old reached the final of last year’s Players Championship 33 in October, where he lost to Chris Dobey.

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Meanwhile, he reached the last four at three further ProTour events in 2025.

As for Monday’s tournament, Nijman would fall in the quarter-finals as James Wade and Nathan Aspinall went on to contest the final.