A bizarre refereeing blunder at Players Championship One in Hildesheim led to a leg being replayed after the official admitted his mistake. The incident occurred during William O'Connor's match against Mario Vandenbogaerde on Monday.
Vandenbogaerde had just levelled the match at 1-1 and should have thrown first in the third leg. Instead, O'Connor stepped up to the oche and began his throw. Both players had thrown three darts each before the referee stopped the action and explained the error to Vandenbogaerde.
Commentator Abi Davies remarked: 'Well you don't see that everyday, do you? I think that is the first time I have ever seen this.' Paul Nicholson added: 'I can't say I have never seen that before on a livestream anyway... The leg has been scrubbed.'
O'Connor immediately recognised his mistake and apologised to his opponent, patting him on the chest in a gracious gesture. He quickly recovered from the disruption, winning the remaining five legs to secure a 6-1 victory. The Irishman later caused an upset by beating Gary Anderson in the third round before losing to Wessel Nijman in the last 16.
The incident was not entirely unprecedented; a similar mistake occurred in the inaugural Premier League match in 2005, when Wayne Mardle threw prematurely on Phil Taylor's leg. On that occasion, however, play continued without intervention.
