Britain's Dom Taylor has been suspended from the World Darts Championship after failing a drug test, the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) announced on Friday. The suspension means his scheduled second-round opponent, Jonny Clayton, receives a bye to the third round.
The DRA stated that Taylor returned an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted on 14 December, one day before the tournament began at Alexandra Palace. As a result, Taylor has been suspended from all DRA-regulated events with immediate effect, pending a disciplinary process under the DRA's anti-doping rules.
This is the second time Taylor has failed a drugs test. He received a one-month ban in January for a failed test in November last year, which caused him to miss the World Championship. That ban was reduced from two years as the substance was deemed not performance-enhancing and was taken outside of competition.
In other matches, Beau Greaves narrowly missed her first win at the World Championship, losing 3-2 to Daryl Gurney. The 21-year-old from Doncaster hit a 10-dart leg to level the match, but Gurney secured victory with a 144 checkout in the deciding set. Gurney praised Greaves, calling her the best female dart player on the planet.
Ireland's William O'Connor averaged 102.3 in a 3-0 win over Krzysztof Kciuk, setting up a second-round clash with Michael van Gerwen. Josh Rock overcame a scare to beat Gemma Hayter 3-1, while American Lenny Gates defeated Mickey Mansell 3-2. Ryan Meikle and Kevin Doets also advanced with straight-set wins.
