Gary Anderson was well off the pace in his opening World Darts Championship match as he was dumped out of the tournament on his 54th birthday by Jeffrey de Graaf. The Flying Scotsman failed to win a single set as he whimpered to a 3-0 defeat.
Anderson, who won the title in 2015 and 2016, had been one of the favourites behind Luke Littler and Luke Humphries coming into the tournament after impressing at the oche throughout the year.
He entered the event with the best average over the last 12 months but was sent packing by his Swedish opponent after a underwhelming display at Alexandra Palace.
De Graaf set the tone for the match as he threw 180 with his first trip to the oche. And he closed out the opening set after Anderson had missed five attempts at doubles across four legs.
Anderson was then broken in the first leg of the second set as it became clear that the two-time champion was in trouble.
The Scot then made a mess of the second leg to allow his opponent to clinch it. And he continued to miss his attempts at doubles as De Graaf wrapped up the second set.
De Graaf started the third set with the darts in hand and took the first leg, before Anderson hit back. The players shared the next two legs to take the set to a decider. And the Swedish ace checked out on 76 with a 20, 20 double 18 to book his place in the third round.
De Graaf will go head to head with Paolo Nebrida in his next match after the player saw off Ross Smith earlier on Sunday.
Anderson, meanwhile, will head into Christmas without the prospect of returning to Ally Pally until next year after missing 17 of his 20 doubles.
After the match, De Graaf told Sky Sports: “It’s great. Gary didn’t really show up as he usually does. I’m very happy with the win. I got very nervous after the first set. And then at 2-0 I was like, ‘What is going on now?’
“It has been the best year, definitely. I’m just happy to be there to keep on going. It was maybe the checkouts [that have changed for me this year], that was the difference in this game.”
And discussing his 75 per cent doubles success he added: “That’s what I need to do to win. I was also lucky in the second set when he missed a lot of doubles – it was a relief. He started the third set really well.”
