KENT darts sensation Kirk Shepherd didn’t quite manage a fairytale ending to his incredible run at the PDC World Darts Championship.

The 21-year-old qualifier, from Ramsgate, defied the odds to reach the final at London’s Alexandra Palace on New Year’s Day but suffered a 7-2 defeat to Canadian John Part.

Shepherd took two of the first three legs - throwing a 160 checkout at one stage - but missed a double to win the opening set and Part outplayed him from that point in.

The Canadian professional opened up a 4-0 lead in sets before Shepherd won two of the next three sets to give him a glimmer of hope, only for Part to take the next two sets to win the trophy and £100,000.

It was a disappointing end to the event for Shepherd, but he will take a lot away from the experience from his World Championship debut.

Despite starting the tournament ranked 140th in the world, he saw off five big name opponents, including Peter Manley, Terry Jenkins and Wayne Mardle, to reach the final and pick up the £50,000 runner-up cheque - more than six times his annual salary.

But he admitted he was unhappy with the way he played when it came to the crunch.

He said: "It’s a bitter pill to swallow and even worse when you don’t play half the game you can play.

"But I started very slowly and if you play like that you get punished by a player of John’s quality.

"He took full advantage in the first four sets and it was very hard to get back into the match.

"I’m very proud of what I’ve done. I’m going to give it a shot as a full-time pro and hopefully I can do big things in this game."