World Darts Championship star Callan Rydz was spotted with a wasp in his hair during his fourth-round clash with Robert Owen on Monday. The insect stayed in the same position for a number of visits to the oche during the opening leg of the second set before flying off.

And Rydz even hit a 180 before the wasp departed the scene. Eagle-eye viewers of the tournament were quick to notice the wasp, with plenty of them taking to social media to make light of the hilarious incident.

But Rydz was none the wiser as he carried on without even recognising his barnet had been visited by the creature.

Rydz has been in incredible form during the World Championship and hadn’t even dropped a set ahead of his showdown with Owen.

The 26-year-old opened his campaign with a 3-0 victory over Romeo Grbavac before overcoming Martin Schindler by the same scoreline in the second round. And he saw off Dimitri Van den Bergh 4-0 in his third match.

The ace endured a difficult start against Owen as he lost the first two sets. But he turned the match on its head by winning three sets in a row to move within one set of victory.

The showdown soon became an Ally Pally classic as Owen hit back to draw level at 3-3 and take the match into a decider. But Rydz completed his comeback by clinching the final set to secure a 4-3 victory and book his place in the quarter-finals.

Rydz averaged 97.38 during the match and hit 12 180s. He landed 16 of his 37 attempts at doubles, with Owen hitting just 12 of his 43 double attempts.

And after the match, Rydz told Sky Sports: “I saw a photo this week of me celebrating Christmas with my grandma, who I lost, and it really hurt, so this is for her. The crowd got me through that match. Rob battered me in the first two sets, so thank you very much to the crowd.

“I didn't feel like I played good there but I have seen the average and I was decent. I have a day off tomorrow to recharge the batteries.”

Rydz will return to Ally Pally on New Year's Day to face the winner of the match between Michael van Gerwen and Jeffrey De Graaf. And he is just three victories away from lifting the Sid Waddell trophy.

Wasps have plagued players at Ally Pally at previous editions of the World Championship, with Scott Williams attempting to karate chop one such insect during his showdown with Damon Heta a year ago.

And it appears Ally Pally chiefs will have to go back to the drawing board for ideas of how to stop the insects landing on players in time for next year’s tournament.