2310: They'll be no more free food for the fans at the 'Ally Pally' now the 'Muffin Man' has been knocked out by 'Flash' but this is probably for the best.

Firstly you have to question the quality of his produce if he's simply throwing them away for free while muffins clearly don't fit into this era of healthy eating - a key concern for most darts players and fans I'm sure.

Maybe there's a niche in the sport for a 'Fruit and Veg Man' next year or perhaps even a 'Milkman', as long as he doesn't hurl bottles of the white stuff into the crowd - that could be both messy and dangerous.

2220: We said it wouldn't be close, but how wrong we were! At least we predicted the right result with Part just about scraping through against the the South African 'Sergeant' who pushed him all the way.

The crowd took Losper to their hearts and although he couldn't quite take the clash into a deciding set, his impressive performance on the stage tonight will no doubt promote the rapidly-growing sport back in his homeland.

Next up, it's the one we've all been waiting for as the Mark 'Flash' Dudbridge takes on the 'Muffin Man' Steve Hine, who scoffs his face and feeds the crowd as he walks to the stage! Some athlete!

2115: John 'Darth Maple' Part takes to the stage with the most fearsome entrance in darts - but only for the music. Once you grasp the fact Darth Vader isn't actually in the arena, you can sit back, relax and enjoy another game of darts without worries of the Death Star ruining it all.

Tonight the former champion is up against South African Charles Losper, who isn't really expected to mount a serious challenge.

2100: It didn't take too long for Wade to breeze past MacArthur 3-0 but there was one incident which highlighted why we generally tend to lose our sporting tussles with the Aussies.

Basically we have the wrong attitude.

Whereas they love to beat us senseless and humiliate us we're quite the opposite. When MacArthur celebrated winning his only leg of the match, denying the Englishman a perfect whitewash victory, the crowd cheered and even Wade cracked a smile.

Sickening.

2025: James Wade takes to the stage now hoping to take the first step on the way to a stunning 2007 treble.

The stylish left hander has won the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix this season and is on a massive high ahead of what should be a routine match against an Australian nicknamed 'The General'.

2015: "Good darting all round," is a little phrase which could have summed up tonight's exciting opening clash, until Baxter got sloppy.

Leading 2-1 in sets, The Rocket was just one leg away from victory and his supreme finishing skills and consistently high scoring left Olson struggling to keep with the pace.

But all of a sudden some criminal wayward darts from the 14th seed saw the Canadian battle back to all-square and the quality began to degenerate down to pub standard.

The final set was like watching two men wading through treacle towards a finishing line, which was eventually passed by the stuttering Rocket.

1915: The evening session gets under way with Ronnie Baxter taking on the dangerous Canadian Dan Olson - could we see another upset here?

Certainly 'The Rocket' has misfired in recent years and it wouldn't be too surprising to see him shot down by an opponent who makes his entrance to "Shoot the Runner".

Later tonight we have bright prospect James Wade in action against Steve MacArthur while former champ John Part faces Charles Losper and Mark Dudbridge rounds the action off against Steve Hine.

1725: Beaton wins 3-0. Little more we can say than that. Steve Evans hit one of 23 efforts at a double. Enough said.

1710: So easy for Beaton - 2-0 in sets and he's barely broken sweat. Though you get the impression it'd take a lot for that to happen.

1700: 'The Adonis' (we're sticking with it if no-one else is) cruises through the first set. Plenty of chest hair on show, though. Not quite sure why I've brought that up...

1648: Steve Beaton has taken to the stage now. He's a popular figure in the office though the decision to rebrand him as 'Magnum' rather than 'Adonis' has caused plenty of disappointment.

1640: Suljovic closes out the match for undoubtedly the biggest win of his career so far. He'll be an awkward opponent for whoever awaits in the next round - John Part or Charles Losper. Sadly, we never got excited.

1630: Terribly slow progress and this is a game that has failed to really catch the attention, yet by the same token it is turning into something of a thriller as Suljovic takes the fourth set to level it up. Another 3-2 match!

1610: Smith moves two sets to one in front. Suljovic is still throwing pretty slowly but Smith has adapted to his pace and is starting to show some of his best darts. He'll be glad to get this one out of the way, though.

1550: Suddenly everything looks happy in Smith's world, but it's a somewhat maverick finish that levels things up as he hits three straight doubles in his checkout.

1540: Definitely another shock brewing here. Smith is struggling to find his usual fluidity and Suljovic is taking full advantage, albeit at a painfully slow pace. He leads a set to love and a leg to love.

1527: Smith might not live up to his happy moniker if he has to put up with much more of this. Darts' 'Mr Bean' is certainly a character - everything from his throwing style to the time he can take to launch his first arrow to his celebration could be described as 'different'.

1516: Just as our Chris 'The Hammer' Hammer left prior to Andy 'The Hammer' Hamilton's arrival on stage yesterday, the always-upbeat 'Hexty' has departed at a good time as the man branded 'The Happiest Man in the World' arrives on stage. 'The Pieman' is in the building.

1508: Seabert has caused the greatest shock ever by a seal in darts. He has knocked the much fancied Colin Osborne out of the tournament and has made the animal kingdom and fans of French cartoons very proud.

He is dancing round the stage like Bez at the moment and, with movement like that, who knows how far he can go in this tournament.

The singer Seal sang the song 'Fly Like An Eagle' and if Extercatte carries on in this form he could swoop to knock Peter Manley out in the next round.

The Wizard, however, lacked magic this afternoon, but he will be back and is certain to make a huge impact in this tournament in the future.

I will now be handing over the blog driving seat to Sporting Life's number one darts tipster Reece Killworth who cannot contain his excitement about the impending arrival of Andy 'The Pieman' Smith.

1454: Seabert is refusing to lie down, he has taken the third set and is leaving 'The Wizzard' floundering.

He has shown as much bravery as the previously mentioned cartoon seal and he is looking a decent bet to win this clash.

The Dutchman has given Sporting Life yet another international darts hero and he goes by the name of Erwin 'Seabert' Extercatte.

1442: Could it be Magic for Seabert, well not if the Wizard has anything to do with it.

Osborne has just won the second set with ease and appears to have got over his wobble at the start of the match and now seems to have the measure over the Dutch darter.

However, here at Sporting Life, we are firmly behind 'Seabert' and hope he can do Holland and the animal kingdom proud.

1430: I am now going to over-rule myself and start referring to Extercatte as his original nickname 'Seabert', rather than 'Dennis', as a result of the commendable morality shown by the seal in the TV series.

And, as if to justify my decision to back his original nickname, the Dutchman has taken the first set against the much fancied Osborne.

Seabert looked out of it, however he won the fourth leg with a bullseye before calmly seeing out the set to claim a 1-0 lead in the match1428: My research has thrown up the, more than likely, origin of Dennis' original nickname 'Seabert'.

Apparently Seabert was an animated television series which was originally aired in French before being translated into several different languages, one of which must have been Dutch.

The series, which had 26 episodes, was about a boy named Tommy, an Inuit girl named Aura, and their 'pet' whitecoat seal Seabert. In their adventures the trio saved various animals from hunters and poachers, which they should be applauded for.

I can only imagine the Dutch darting public believe 'Dennis' looks like the popular 80's Seal, the animal, not the singer who sang 'Kiss From A Rose'.

1415: It's nearly Christmas so it must be time for Wizard, thankfully instead of the upbeat hit by Roy Wood and company, the crowd are about to watch last year's quarter-finalist Colin 'The Wizard' Osborne.

The darter from Derby is taking on the unknown Dutch qualifier 'Dennis' Erwin Extercatte, who we are going to name after the former Manchester United full-back, however his official nickname is the slightly more bizarre 'Seabert'.

Hopefully I will have found out the origins of 'Seabert' by my next update.

1406: Despite the absence of some of the nation's panto favourites, 'The Iceman' has pulled himself together and sent Shi tumbling out of the tournament.

The Cumbrian was far from his best, however he had just about enough to see off the challenge of the Chinese number one.

Shi can return home with his head held high, although the stream of international players isn't making for cracking first round matches all the time.

However, we all still love 'Gerald' so we can't complain too much.

1355: Warriner-Little, hoping to set up a Cumbrian derby with Peter Manley in the second round, has claimed the second set, even though he has been very much in second gear this afternoon.

They are strange affairs these afternoon matches as none of the crowd seem overly up for the action.

This is leading to a fairly eerie atmosphere, like you sometimes see in an early kick-off in football.

However, there are people in the crowd dressed as, among others, Scooby Doo and Robin, of the popular combo Batman and Robin, who will hopefully get the party started.

The commentators have just said the fancy dress in 'Ally Pally' makes the crowd like a pantomime, which is completely untrue as I cannot see Christopher Biggins, Les Dennis or Basil Brush anywhere.

1340: Shi has now gone a step further than 'Gerald' did last night and has taken a set in the first round of the tournament.

Warriner-Little played some awful darts in that set and will need to sort out his play if he is to avoid a shock.

However, all credit must go to China's number one who is doing everyone of his nation's population proud.

1329: American band Maroon 5 sang the popular song 'Shi will be loved' and that is exactly how the crowd feel about the man from China after he picked up his first leg of the match.

The second set is currently poised at 1-1 and Shi will have to build on that success if he is to make 'The Iceman' melt.

1324: Warriner-Little has lived up to his nickname of 'The Iceman' so far and has frozen Shi out of the first set.

The Cumbrian grabbed all three legs and so far this match is looking like a complete mis-match.

However, we all remember how 'Gerald' Forde came back against Barney last night and you never know, the man from China could yet win the hearts of the 'Ally Pally' crowd this afternoon.

1310: The players are making their way to the oche to a noisy rock song, however that won't put off Shi, he looks like he is firmly in the zone andready to face whatever Warriner-Little can throw at him.

1305: Welcome to today's darts blog, we will be keeping you up to date with all the thrills and spills from 'Ally Pally' as the world's best darters do their stuff.

First up it's Alan Warriner-Little against China's Shi Yongsheng and as ever we at Sporting Life are backing the underdog, especially on the back of the efforts of Anthony 'Gerald' Forde last night.