Former PDC major champion Colin Lloyd lost his cool during a World Championship match, leaving fans stunned as he punched the dart board.
Lloyd is an iconic figure on the PDC tour and had a series of memorable moments during his darts career, including two TV title wins. He picked up the 2004 World Grand Prix and 2005 World Matchplay.
Sky SportsLloyd was furious and angrily punched the board one time[/caption]
But none came more memorable than the moment that left darts fans stunned during a 2011 World Championship showdown with German Andree Welge.
Lloyd was infuriated having gone 2-0 up in sets earlier in the match and cruising against the seemingly struggling Welge.
But astonishingly, the fan favourite was unable to capitalise and conclude the match, letting Welge pull the match back to 2-2.
The English star then failed to hold his throw at the start of the fifth set, and he became visibly more and more frustrated.
Having scored just 55 at the start of the second leg, which was by no means disastrous, Lloyd saw red.
He walked up to the oche and astonishingly punched the board with his throwing hand.
It prompted a stunned reaction from the scorer, and as Lloyd walked away, it became clear that he was far from impressed with his return from the three darts.
But a problem arose as Lloyd then realised that he had cut his hand when punching the board, with the injury inflicted by the sharp wire.
Despite his brief moment of madness, Lloyd was able to regain his composure and take back control of the set.
And he did eventually oust the challenger, beating him 3-2 in a nervy and tight final set to progress through to second round.
Sky SportsLloyd showed off his hand when issuing an apology after picking up the win[/caption]
Lloyd was subject to an investigation for his actions by the PDC, but he did show remorse in the aftermath of the incident.
He issued an apology on live TV, while showing off his injury where the cut bled after his match.
He said: “I’m disappointed in myself, but at the end of the day the PDC and Sky want you to show your emotions. I was showing my true emotions up there.
“I showed my emotions badly, but frustration kicks in sometimes. I was 2-0 up in sets, then all of a sudden I lost 3-0 and 3-0 and I thought ‘I cannot believe I’m going to let this game go’.
“It’s happened to me so many times in this tournament. The amount of times I’ve let people off and I thought to myself, ‘not again’. Then I threw that dart and, before I knew it, I’d gone ‘bang’ and hit the board.
“The whole place shook and the crowd started booing me. I’d like to think that when it comes to sport you want to see people showing their emotions.
“I’ve seen snooker players really bang the table before and just hit the balls around and you’ve seen boxers throw punches after the bell.
“It happens. I apologise to Andree, but it’s about that psychological edge and I gave myself the psychological edge.
“I did it in the wrong way, but I got a result. I came through and won it.”
Lloyd was far from the prime years of his career, with his best run at the tournament having seen him reach the semi-final in 2002.
His career tailed off significantly and he showed no signs of progress on tour, before eventually retiring in 2016 after dropping to 121st in the PDC rankings.
The PDC World Championship starts on December 15, with the final taking place on January 3.
talkSPORT will have live commentary of all the action across the network throughout the tournament.
PDC World Championship Odds
To win the tournament:
Luke Littler – 2/1
Luke Humphries – 3/1
Gary Anderson – 10/1
Michael van Gerwen – 11/1
Mike De Decker – 25/1
Michael Smith – 28/1
Rob Cross – 33/1
Gerwyn Price – 35/1
Darts World Championship Outright Odds
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