17-YEAR-OLD Meath starlet Keane Barry was savouring the experience after making his debut in the World Darts Championship at London’s Alexandra Palace last night.

The youngster came up against Holland’s Vincent van der Voort.

Barry was beaten in straight sets, but still impressed and held his own against his Dutch counterpart, who at 43 was appearing in his 12th World Championship.

“It was a brilliant atmosphere to see everyone up there and everyone from home — the crowd was amazing, the atmosphere was amazing,” Barry told RTÉ.

“It was a dream come true to even be up there on that stage.” 

Barry admitted to being frustrated by the outcome of his encounter with the number-33-ranked player.

“Inside, I’m very disappointed. It’s gut wrenching. But that’s part and parcel of it. It could have went my way, but he was more clinical in the right times and he took his doubles out at the right times as well. The 66 to go two sets up was a killer, but I’ll take the experience onboard and hopefully next year, I’ll be back.”

Despite being disappointed with the loss though, the teen said there were positives to take from the match.

I didn’t go out and embarrass myself. I think I played well enough. I’d be very hard on myself after this, but that’s the way darts is, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

“There are a lot more positives than negatives to take out of this. It’s all a learning curve.”

Despite the defeat, the Duleek native will be back competing at Ally Pally in a couple of days — he faces Adam Gawlas of the Czech Republic in the Junior World Championship final.

“I’ll get this game out of my head,” he added. “At least I have the experience of being up there, I know what the stage is like, so I’ll be more comfortable going up there on Saturday, and hopefully I’ll be a world youth champion by Saturday evening.”

Meath's Keane Barry tells @MicilGlennon that he'll take the positives from his debut, despite defeat @OfficialPDC World Championship #rtesport #lovethedarts pic.twitter.com/nGwx323nM9

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 16, 2019

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