This past weekend produced a remarkable moment when Ricky Evans and Mervyn King faced each other on the oche.
King was left visibly puzzled when Evans pulled off an unusual action, as captured in the footage. Known as *Rapid Ricky* for his blistering pace of play, Evans once again lived up to his reputation. For “The King,” it was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment — not only because of the sheer speed, but also because he had to double-check whether what he had just witnessed was even correct.
In fact, what Evans did was highly unconventional, something King had likely never encountered in his long darts career.
The match itself marked the opening game of the week for both players, with King securing a 6–3 victory. It also turned out to be King’s strongest performance of the week, reaching the Last 32. His following outings ended far earlier, bowing out in the Last 64 and Last 128 on the subsequent days.
For Evans, however, it was a week to forget. After falling 6–3 to King on day one, his campaign ended abruptly on day two with a narrow 6–5 defeat to Chris Landman. On day three, Evans once again lost in a deciding 11th leg, this time against Daryl Gurney in the opening round. As a result, Evans finished the week without a single win to his name.
The Englishman now finds himself in a challenging period of his career. Absent from the upcoming World Grand Prix and currently ranked 47th in the world, Evans faces the urgent task of breaking out of this downward spiral. For “Rapid Ricky,” the focus must now shift to rediscovering form and climbing his way back up the rankings.