Two-time world champion Gary Anderson has crashed out of the World Darts Championship after a shock second-round loss to Geoffrey de Graaf at Alexandra Palace.
Anderson struggled throughout a one-sided match against his unseeded opponent, winning just two games and hitting just three of 20 doubles attempts en route to a straight sets defeat to De Graaf.
De Graaf prevailed in the first two sets and broke Anderson again in the next, earning a famous victory to book a third-round clash with Paolo Nebreda after Christmas.
Anderson has become the latest high-profile player to be eliminated from the World Darts Championship
Anderson's memorable birthday was the first time he lost his opening match in 16 World Championship matches, on a night when fellow seeds Ross Smith and Martin Schindler were also eliminated from the tournament.
How Anderson suffered an early exit
Anderson was one of the names expected to challenge favorites Luke Humphries and Luke Littler for the Sid Waddell Cup, having been on the other side of the finalist draw last year, but failed to live up to pre-tournament expectations.
De Graaf opened with an 11-dart catch and fired in a Shanghai finish to break a second straight breakout by more than a ton, then responded with a stunning 121-and-12-dart finish from Anderson to close out the opening set on D9.
De Graaf qualified for the third round for the second year in a row
The Swede immediately broke a 13-dart throw at the start of the second set and took advantage of six missed arrows from the 'Flying Scotsman' in the next set to grab the throw, with an even more flustered finish from Anderson allowing de Graaf to close out the set. On the next leg.
A visibly frustrated Anderson ended a run of seven straight losing matches with a brilliant 11-bet shot, with the Scot pulling the third set into a decider after responding to De Graaf's second-leg win by claiming 14 arrows of his own.
Anderson needed to break DeGraaf's putt on the deciding leg to extend the contest, but he could only watch as De Graaf took 76 on D18 to complete a remarkable victory.
“It's fantastic,” De Graaf He told Sky Sports. “Gary didn't turn up like he usually does but I'm very happy with the win.
“I felt very nervous after the first set and when I went 2-0 up I was thinking: What happens now?” “I'm happy to finally qualify, happy to be here and let's keep going.”
Seeds depart on Sunday from shocks at Ally Pally
Dimitri van den Berg He avoided being swept out of the seeds by defeating Ireland's Dylan Slevin in straight sets, earning the 11th seed a third-round clash with Callan Reds.
The Belgian – who scored six maximums and averaged 96 – fired 117 points to capture the first set and then broke Slevin in the final stretch of the second, before grabbing another 13-dart decider in the first leg to complete a brilliant start. .
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The famous Ally Pally Wasp returns during Dimitri van den Berg's match with Dylan Slevin
Reds – the player with the highest average in the first round – made it two straight sets wins in the tournament, following a 3-0 victory over Romeu Grbavac in the opening match by eliminating Schindler by the same margin.
The Englishman averaged 91.05 and benefited from some poor finishing from Schindler, who converted only three of his 28 duel attempts, while the other match of the evening saw Nebreda become the first Asian player to reach the third round since 2020.
Nebrida produced three plus tons in his 3-0 win, as Smith missed darts to win each of the three sets, and the Filipino was one of 11 players to have knocked out a seeded player so far in the second round.
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Bali ally, distress alert! Paolo Nebreda had three big takedowns as he beat Ross Smith
Colin cuts short his media duties after sailing
In the afternoon session, Joe Cullen He left his post-match press conference after qualifying for the third round with a straight sets victory over Dutchman Vissel Nyman.
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Joe Cullen says the media showed him 'no respect', after Wessel Nyman became favorite in their World Darts Championship showdown
Cullen won just three of his last 12 matches before this year's World Championships, but produced one of his best performances of the year, posting an average of 98.18 to set up a meeting with former world champion Gerwyn Price after Christmas.
The rock star felt he had been disrespected in the lead-up to the tournament, telling reporters: “I didn't get any respect, so I'm not going to share any respect with any of you guys tonight. I'm going home.” “.
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Colin gave a quick interview to Sky Sports Darts after scoring a dominant win over Njman
Ryan Searle The tournament opened with an impressive 3-0 win over Matt Campbell, while Dirk van Duijvenbode became the latest seed to exit early after Latvia. Razma orbit They came back from a set down to win 3-1.
Ian White He also caused an upset after eliminating current European Championship winner Richie Edhouse, a 3-1 win for 'Diamond' which saw him advance to play pre-tournament favorite Luke Littler in the third round.
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Ian White says he is ready to upset Runcorn number two, Luke Littler, in the third round
“He (Lettler) is No. 2 in Runcorn – I'm from Runcorn and I'm No. 1!” White said. “You want to cause an upset. I'm all for that. Luke Littler has done everything for this sport right now.”
What will come on the ninth day?
The final eight second-round matches take place on Monday, with Johnny Clayton headlining the afternoon session against Mickey Mansell and former World Youth Champion Josh Rock taking on Rhys Griffin.
Krzysztof Ratajski faces Alexis Toilo in the day's opening match, former UK Open champion Andrew Gelding opens his tournament against Martin Lookman, while Dave Chisnall and former world champion Rob Cross take part in the evening session.
Chisnall plays Ricky Evans and Cross takes on Scott Williams, after Gian van Veen takes on Ricardo Petriczko and Daryl Gurney plays Florian Hempel.
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