Munyua secures historic victory at PDC World Championships

Kenya's David Munyua during the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, England on December 18, 2025. [AFP]

In his first attempt at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championships in the United Kingdom, Kenya's David Munyua is a proud man after all!

This after he defeated world number 18 darter Mike de Decker of Belgium 3-2 in a mouthwatering match to cruise into the second round of the most lucrative darts competition globally.

The match was played on the best of three in the five-round encounter on Thursday.

During the match, Munyua scored a total of 180 points with three darts three times, while the Belgian made it five times.

In all five rounds, Munyua's rate of dominating the match stood at 35.29 percent while that of Decker was at 24.44 percent.

As a result, he stormed into the second round of the world's premier darts championships against the expectations of many players at home and across the world.

In the fifth round, Munyua was affected by the loud shouts and whistling and appealed for calmness in that round.

"I'm fine with everything except for whistling. The whistling has to stop. It should be an immediate ejection from the venue if caught whistling - during the player's throw. Whistling after the match or at the break is fine, but during the throw it's unnecessary and should be policed," Munyua told BBC Sports.

Before he took a flight to the UK, Munyua had taken part in the Kenya Open Darts Championships in Nakuru city where he emerged victorious.

"This is just a preparatory tournament for my sessions before I get to the UK. When there, it'll be serious business since we'll be out to give our best in the fight for top honours," he told Standard Sports last month.

As a debuntante, Munyua was in the same class as Motomu Sakai of Japan, who also made it to the second round.

Munyua is the first player from Kenya to have appeared at the PDC World Championship.

Top seed and Kenya's number one darter, Peter Wachiuri, who's equally in the UK and in the same event, is taking part in the PDC-Modus Super Series, the second division of the prestigious competition.

And Munyua caused a huge shock as he came from two sets down to beat de Decker 3-2.

The 30-year-old veterinary doctor who works in Murang'a County qualified for the PDC World Championships after he beat all his opponents in the African Darts Group Qualifiers held in Nairobi this year.