O’CONNOR WINS AFTER REFEREE HOWLER
09/02/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
WILLIAM O’CONNOR survived refereeing chaos after a bizarre blunder saw a full leg wiped mid-match.
The extraordinary moment came during the Irishman’s second-round clash with Mario Vandenbogaerde at Players Championship One.
World No.64 Vandenbogaerde had just levelled the match at 1-1, pinning double eight to close the previous leg.
But confusion followed immediately as O’Connor stepped up to throw first in the next leg, opening with 44, before Vandenbogaerde followed.
Only then did the official realise the mistake — it was actually the Belgian’s throw, not O’Connor’s.
After a brief stoppage, the referee confirmed the error and ruled that the entire leg would be erased and restarted.
PDC commentator Abi Davies was left shocked by the incident and said: “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 pro Paul Nicholson admitted the event was almost unheard of in modern darts.
He added: “I can’t say I have seen that before on a livestream anyway.
“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.”
Once play resumed correctly, O’Connor took full control of the match, racing away to secure a dominant 6-1 victory to enter the third round.
‘The Magpie’ then dumped out two-time world champion Gary Anderson before falling in the last 16 to Wessel Nijman.
O’Connor had an impressive 2025 campaign reaching a final on the ProTour and the quarter-final of the Dutch Darts Championship.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
