Darts results: Daniel Larsson takes top spot as Kyle Anderson makes playing return from coronavirus

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A night after the little known Jesus Noguera had upset the odds of 6/1 to progress from a group including Ian White, the PDC newcomer from Sweden defied his world ranking of 130 to win all three of his matches at a canter.

It's the 14th time out of 23 nights that the highest ranked player has failed to progress and on seven of those occasions, the player who prevails has been priced around 4/1 or bigger at the start of the night.

The short and unusual format of this groundbreaking tournament has certainly proved to be such a leveller that the number of shocks - including the exits of Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith in the opening week - are seemingly now taken with a pinch of salt.

Larsson's lowly position on the Order of Merit is explained by only earning his maiden Tour Card via European Qualification School back in January but apart from one run to the last 16 of a Players Championship event, he hadn't enjoyed much form to shout about in 2020 before the coronavirus brought the world to a halt.

His first opponent Kyle Anderson had only recently won his own battle with Covid-19 and while he didn't suffer from serious symptoms, the Australian admitted he couldn't throw a dart for five weeks in isolation and felt well short of quality practice.

The world number 45, who was happy enough just to be back playing competitively again, could only average 80 in a 5-2 defeat while Larsson repeated the scoreline against Dirk van Duijvenbode in his next match.

This was more of a surprise because van Duijvenbode was the bookies' favourite to top the standings given his impressive form pre-lockdown and he'd previously opened up his campaign with a 5-1 demolition of Martin Schindler with an average of 92.

The 38-year-old had only recorded averages in the lower mid 80s during these wins but upped his game dramatically to reach a mark of 100 in a 5-0 thrashing of Schindler that wrapped up his place in the next round with a huge legs difference of +11.

Anderson, who earlier lost his second match to Schindler 5-0, ended the night on a high with a 5-3 triumph over van Duijvenbode although both players could only average in the high 70s.

Anderson told PDC TV: "We all joke about it and I thought it wasn't something that was going to happen to me - I just got a normal cough and had no other symptoms.

"But I went and got and a test done and got the call three days later from the the doctor to say that I had coronavirus and had to self-isolate immediately away from my family.

"There's only so much Netflix and Youtube you can watch before it just gets boring. It has been lonely but I have been grateful for all the well-wishers on Facebook and Twitter."

• Each night’s action begins at 1930 BST, and will include webcam footage of each player and their dart board, live score graphics and commentary from Dan Dawson. All PDC Home Tour action will be broadcast live on PDCTV for FREE to ALL registered PDCTV users, regardless of whether you have a paid or free membership

PDC Home Tour Darts: Saturday results and Sunday Fixtures

Play begins at 1930 BST each night
Best of nine legs
Click here for Sky Bet odds

GROUP 23 - Saturday May 9

• Kyle Anderson 2-5 Daniel Larsson
• Martin Schindler 1-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Daniel Larsson 5-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Kyle Anderson 0-5 Martin Schindler
• Martin Schindler 0-5 Daniel Larsson
• Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-5 Kyle Anderson

GROUP STANDINGS

1. Daniel Larsson P 3 W 3 L 0 Leg Diff +11 Pts 6
2. Dirk van Duijvenbode P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -1 Pts 2
3. Martin Schindler P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -4 Pts 2
4. Kyle Anderson P 3 W 1 L 2 Leg Diff -6 Pts 2

GROUP 24 - Sunday May 10

• Krzysztof Ratajski v Toni Alcinas
• Jamie Hughes v Darius Labanauskas
• Toni Alcinas v Darius Labanauskas
• Krzysztof Ratajski v Jamie Hughes
• Jamie Hughes v Toni Alcinas
• Darius Labanauskas v Krzysztof Ratajski

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT RESULTS & FIXTURES

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