Sporting Life
Gary Anderson lost to Jeffrey de Graaf
Gary Anderson lost to Jeffrey de Graaf

Darts results: Gary Anderson crashes out of PDC World Championship at the hands of Jeffrey de Graaf on a night of shocks at the Ally Pally

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Mon December 23, 2024 · 2w ago

Gary Anderson's dreams of winning a third PDC World Darts Championship are over before Christmas after suffering a shock 3-0 defeat to Jeffrey de Graaf on his 54th birthday at the Alexandra Palace.

It's the first time ever that Anderson has lost his opening match on his iconic stage in 16 appearances dating back to the 2010 edition.

The Flying Scotsman was among the favourites to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a third time in his glittering career following a resurgent season which saw him top the averages and also reach the semi-finals of the recent Grand Slam of Darts.

It took a stunning display from Luke Littler to defeat him 16-15 that night in Wolverhampton and his performance proved to his remaining doubters that he still had what it took to challenge on the biggest stages.

Anderson headed to the Ally Pally as third favourite behind Littler and Luke Humphries so few would have anticipated many problems in his opening contest against 6/1 outsider de Graaf, who had a struggle seeing off new cult hero Rashad Sweeting in round one.

However on a night of shocks which also saw the demise of seeded pair Ross Smith and Martin Schindler by 3-0 scorelines to Paulo Nebrida and Callan Rydz respectively, Anderson was significantly below his best and endured a nightmare on his doubling from start to finish.

Despite taking out a 121 checkout to get his first leg on the board in the opening set when trailing 2-0, the 53-year-old five darts at the outer ring to force a decider and was subsequently punished by his Swedish opponent.

That set the tone for a horrendous and unexpected night for Anderson, who lost the next set 3-0 and the third 3-2 to exit the competition earlier than ever.

In total he missed 17 of his 20 attempts at double, threw just two 180s and averaged just 92.51.

Anderson's woes must not take any shine off de Graaf's performance as he averaged 95.56 and pinned nine of his 12 double attempts to pull off the biggest victory of his career.

Earlier, fellow 6/1 shot Nebrida pulled off a big shock of his own thanks to a majestic display of finishing that even ecliped de Graaf.

The Philippines star pinned nine out of 11 attempts as Smith spurned 20 of his 26 to claim a ridiculously easy whitewash victory that nobody would have predicted.

Rydz's 3-0 success against Martin Schindler was slightly more believable despite being a marginal underdog but the result could have been so much different had the German pinned double 12 for a nine-darter that would have won him the opening set.

Dimitri Van den BerghAs it turned out he couldn't complete the job in his next visit and from that point on the Geordie made him pay in emphatic fashion.

Dimitri Van den Bergh would have been seen as the most vulnerable seed heading into the night due to his poor recent form but he was the only one to avoid an upset as he beat Dylan Slevin 3-0.

It was closer than the scoreline suggests, with the Belgian taking each set 3-2.

Cullen hits back

A fuming Joe Cullen upset the odds to thrash Wessel Nijman 3-0 during the afternoon session before storming out of his post-match press conference due to feeling 'disrespected' by the media for dismissing his chances and widely backing his opponent to win.

This came after he'd given Sky Sports presenter Abigail Davies one-word answers during the post-match interview on stage and judging by the negative reaction to his behaviour on social media, he may find himself as the villain in his next match against Gerwyn Price after Christmas.

As for his performance, Cullen averaged 98 and hit eight 180s while he took out nine of his 22 double attempts to run out an emphatic winner.

Elsewhere, Ryan Searle crusied to an easy 3-0 win in the opening match of the day while Madars Razma came from a set down to stun Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Ritchie Edhouse was another seed to fall as he blew a 1-0 set lead to bow out against Ian White.

Sunday results and Monday schedule

Sunday December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Ryan Searle 3-0 Matt Campbell (R2)
  • Dirk van Duijvenbode 1-3 Madars Razma (R2)
  • Joe Cullen 3-0 Wessel Nijman (R2)
  • Ritchie Edhouse 1-3 Ian White (R2)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Martin Schindler 0-3 Callan Rydz (R2)
  • Ross Smith 0-3 Paulo Nebrida (R2)
  • Gary Anderson 0-3 Jeffrey De Graaf (R2)
  • Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-0 Dylan Slevin (R2)

Monday December 23
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo (R2)
  • Andrew Gilding v Martin Lukeman (R2)
  • Josh Rock v Rhys Griffin (R2)
  • Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell (R2)

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Gian van Veen v Ricardo Pietreczko (R2)
  • Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel (R2)
  • Dave Chisnall v Ricky Evans (R2)
  • Rob Cross v Scott Williams (R2)

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