Two-time world champion Gary Anderson has withdrawn from the World Darts Championship after a shock second round loss to Geoffrey de Graaf at Alexandra Palace.

Anderson struggled in a lopsided match against an unseeded opponent, winning just two rounds and converting just three of 20 doubles attempts before defeating DeGraaf in straight sets.

De Graaf won the first two sets with ease and broke Anderson again in the following game to earn a famous victory and set up a third-round match with Paul Nebrida just after Christmas.

Anderson’s birthday to forget was his first loss in 16 World Championship opening matches, a night that also saw fellow seeded players Ross Smith and Martin Schindler eliminated.

How Anderson suffered an early exit

Anderson is one of the hopefuls to challenge favorites Luke Humphreys and Luke Littler for the Sid Waddell Trophy, the other side of last year’s finalists but failed to reach the pre-tournament level expectations.

De Graaf opened with 11 darts and completed his second consecutive super-heavy breakthrough in Shanghai, and then Anderson ended the first set of D9 with an astonishing 121 points and 12 darts.

The Swede immediately broke with 13 darts at the start of the second frame and used the Flying Scotsman to save the next six double-dart misses, while Anderson’s more wayward shot allowed de Graaf to end the set in the next leg.

A visibly frustrated Anderson ended a seven-game losing streak with a brilliant 11-dart, and the Scot sent the third set into a decider after responding with a 14-dart win from De Graaf.

Anderson needed to break DeGraff’s delivery in the final over to extend the game, but he could only watch as DeGraff shot 76 in D18 to complete an impressive win.

“This is awesome,” DeGraff Tell Sky Sports. “Gary didn’t turn up as usual but I’m really happy with the win.

“I was so nervous after the first set and when I was 2-0 up I was thinking: ‘What happens now?’ I’m happy that I finally made it and I’m happy to be here and let’s keep going.”

Seeded teams set to start with shock at Ally Pally on Sunday

Dimitri Vandenberg A straight-sets win over Ireland’s Dylan Slevin prevented a seeding sweep, setting up a third-round showdown for the No. 11 seeds Karan Reitz.

The Belgian hit a six-shot top score of 117 for an average score of 96 to grab the opening set, then broke Slevin in the final leg of the second set before another late Taking down 13 darts in the decider round completed an impressive start. .

Reitz was the player with the highest average score in the first round. He defeated Romeo Gerbavac 3-0 in the first game and eliminated Schindler by the same advantage, winning in straight sets.

The Englishman averaged 91.05 and took advantage of some poor shooting from Schindler, who completed just three of his 28 double attempts, with Nebrida in the other game of the night. Became the first Asian player to reach the third round since 2020.

Nebrida went three-plus rounds in the 3-0 victory, with Smith missing a dart, winning each of the three sets, with the Filipino one of the 11 seeded players to have eliminated in the second round so far One of the players.

Cullen cuts brief media duties after tour

During the afternoon meeting, Joe Cullen After defeating Dutchman Wessel Niemann in straight sets and advancing to the third round, he angrily exited the post-match press conference.

Cullen won just three of his last 12 games before this year’s Worlds but had his best performance of the year, averaging 98.18 against former world champion Gerwyn Price just after Christmas. Price) meeting.

The rock star felt he had been disrespected in the build-up to the game, telling reporters: “I wasn’t respected, so I’m not going to show any of you any respect tonight. I’m going home.”

Ryan Searle With a 3-0 win over Matt Campbell in the opening match, Dirk van Duivenbod became the latest seeded player to be eliminated early after the Latvian Madarazma Won 3-1 after losing one set first.

Ian White After knocking out current European Championship winner Ritchie Edhouse, the “Diamond” won 3-1, allowing him to face pre-tournament favorite Luke Little in the third round. Littler).

“He (Littler) was No. 2 at Runcorn – I’m from Runcorn and I was No. 1!” Bai said. “You want to cause chaos. I’m all for it. Luke Littler has done everything for the sport at this moment.”

What happens on the ninth day?

The final eight second-round matches will take place on Monday, with Jonny Clayton taking on Mickey Mansell and former world junior champion Josh Rock taking on Reese Griffin in the afternoon session.

Krzysztof Ratajski takes on Alexis Toylo in the day’s opener, with former British Open champion Andrew Gilding taking on Martin Martin Lukeman, while Dave Chisnall and former world champion Rob Cross all took part in the evening’s action.

Chisnall plays Ricky Evans, Cross plays Scott Williams, Gian van Veen plays Riccardo Pietrecko, and Daryl Gurney plays Florian · Hempel.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? You can watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel until January 3rd. Live stream darts and more top sports with NOW.