Two-time world champion Gary Anderson has been knocked out of the World Darts Championship after a shock second round loss to Jeffrey de Graaf at Alexandra Palace.
Anderson struggled in a one-sided match against an unseeded opponent, winning just two legs and converting just 3 of 20 double attempts into a losing streak against De Graaf.
De Graaf eased through the first two sets and then broke again over Anderson in the next set for a famous victory, booking a third-round meeting with Paolo Nebrida after Christmas.
Anderson becomes the latest high-profile player to be eliminated from the World Darts Championship.
Anderson’s memorable birthday was the day he lost his opening match for the first time in 16 World Championship appearances. Fellow seeds Ross Smith and Martin Schindler were also eliminated on the night.
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 Trophy, and despite being on the other side of last year’s finalist draw, he failed to meet pre-tournament expectations.
De Graaf opened with an 11-dart hold, attempting his second successive checkout by a ton or more in a Shanghai finish, before replying to a stunning 121 and Anderson’s 12-darter to close the opening set in D9.
De Graaf advances to the third round for the second year in a row
The Swede immediately hit 13 darts at the start of the second and then doubled the ‘Flying Scotsman’s’ six missed darts in his next hold throw, before a more mercurial finish from Anderson allowed De Graaf to close out the set. On to the next leg.
A visibly frustrated Anderson ended a seven-game losing leg with a superb 11-dart run, with the Scot taking the third set to a decider after De Graaf responded to win the third leg by claiming a 14-dart hold of his own. I went.
Anderson had to break DeGraaf’s throw in the final decider to extend the contest, but could only watch as De Graaf shot a 76 in D18 to secure an impressive victory.
“Great” De Graaff told Sky Sports. “Gary didn’t show up like he usually does, but I’m very happy with the win.
“I was very nervous after the first set and when I was down 2-0 I thought, ‘What’s happening now?’ I’m glad we were able to get through it in the end and let’s keep going,” he said.
Seeds get off to a shock start at Ally Pally on Sunday
Dimitri van den Berg The 11th seed beat Ireland’s Dylan Slevin in straight sets. Callan Leeds.
With a maximum of 6 strokes and an average of 96, the Belgian took the opening set at 117 before beating Slevin in the final leg of the second leg and ending his impressive start by finding a 13-dart hold in another last-leg decider. .
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The famous Ally Pally Wasps returned in the match between Dimitri Van den Bergh and Dylan Slevin.
Rydz, who holds the highest first-round average, won the tournament for the second straight time, following his 3-0 win over Romeo Gbavac by beating Schindler by the same margin in his opening match.
The Englishman averaged 91.05 and took advantage of Schindler’s miserable finish. Schindler hit just three of her 28 double attempts, and in the evening’s other match, Nebrida became the first Asian player to advance to the third round since 2020.
Nebrida recorded a finish of over 3 tons in the 3-0 win. Smith missed a dart in each of the three sets, making the Filipino one of 11 players to beat a seeded player so far in the second round.
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Ally Pally Panic warning! Paolo Nebrida beat Ross Smith with three big checkouts.
Cullen cut short his media duties after the cruise.
In the afternoon session, joe cullen After advancing to the third round with a straight-set win over Dutchman Wessel Nijman, he stormed out of the post-fight press conference.
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Joe Cullen says the media described Wessel Nijman as having ‘no respect’ after he was named the favorite to win the World Darts Championship.
Cullen had won just three of his 12 matches prior to this year’s World Championships, but achieved one of his best performances of the year, averaging 98.18 to prepare for a meeting with former world champion Gerwyn Price after Christmas.
Rockstar felt he had been disrespected in the run-up to the tournament and told reporters: .”
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Cullen gives a brief interview to Sky Sports Darts after his dominant win over Nijman.
Ryan Sully An impressive 3-0 win over Matt Campbell opened proceedings, with Dirk van Duijvenbode becoming the latest seed to exit early since Latvia. Madar Rajma They won 3-1 from a set down.
Ian White He also upset current European Championship winner Ritchie Edhouse before scoring a 3-1 win on the ‘Diamond’ to set up a third-round match with pre-tournament favorite Luke Littler.
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Ian White says he is ready to demolish Runcorn’s No.2 Luke Littler in round three.
“He (Littler) is Runcorn’s number two. I’m from Runcorn and I’m number one!” White said. “You want to be upset. I’m committed to it. Luke Littler has done everything for this sport at this point.”
What happens on day 9?
The last eight second round matches take place on Monday, with the afternoon session featuring Jonny Clayton against Mickey Mansell and former world youth champion Josh Rock against Rhys Griffin.
Krzysztof Ratajski faces Alexis Toylo in today’s opener, former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding opens the tournament against Martin Lukeman, while Dave Chisnall and former world champion Rob Cross both take part in the evening session.
Chisnall plays Ricky Evans, Cross plays Scott Williams, Gian van Veen plays Ricardo Pietreczko and Daryl Gurney plays Florian Hempel.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live and exclusively until January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and other top sports with NOW.
