NICK Kenny admitted it was “a chance blown but experience gained” after losing to top seed Glen Durrant on his BDO World Darts Championship debut in Frimley Green on Saturday.

Cwmbran’s Kenny had gone into the first round clash confident of upsetting the tournament favourite, and a shock looked possible when the Welshman took the opening set.

But despite hitting six 180s in total, 23-year-old Kenny missed a few crucial doubles and world number one Durrant made him pay.

Durrant, who is bidding for his maiden world title, sealed a 3-1 victory in the best-of-five set match, although Kenny certainly didn’t look out of place on the BDO’s biggest stage.

“I really enjoyed the game but I know there won’t be many opportunities to beat the world number one like I had with darts to go 2-0 up – I should have won every set the way I was playing,” he said.

“Sometimes you let a set go as long as you get in front in the next one, and I had three darts to go 2-0 up in the third but missed them which was a bit disappointing.

“If I had played the way I did and didn’t have a shot at a double then fair enough, but I had the chance and games change on chances like those.”

He added: “When he won the first leg with a 167 checkout I did think ‘here we go’, but I came back with a 12-darter which was harder for him to take.

“I won the first set with a 102 average and if I’d been a bit more consistent I could have won that match easily.

“Winning the first set was brilliant and it made me relax as well because I didn’t want to go out there and lose 3-0. The first thing was to win a leg, then a set, and then go for the match.

“The turning point was when I missed two darts at double eight to go 2-0 up in the third set, that cost me big time.

“It’s disappointing because he’s the world number one, but if I was playing someone else and they played like he did I’d be feeling worse.”

Kenny’s previous experience of playing at the Lakeside Country Club and in front of the television cameras, as he did on Saturday, served him in good stead for his world championship bow.

And he is determined to return next year for another crack at the British Darts Organisation’s biggest prize.

“Of course I’m proud of how I played, I’m buzzing, and the reaction I’ve had has been great,” he said.

“I loved the experience and the aim now is to move further up the rankings and come back next year.

“One day everything will click and I’m going to shock the world. It’s going to happen.”