Gary Anderson Exits PDC World Championship on 54th Birthday

Gary Anderson a two-time PDC World Champion, lost 3-0 to Jeffrey de Graaf in the second round at Alexandra Palace on his 54th birthday. De Graaf, 34, thrilled with the win, described it as a dream come true as Anderson had been his idol since he was 14. Unfortunately for Anderson, ranked 14th, he failed to perform at his usual level and became the 11th seed to exit the tournament. Despite holding the highest three-dart average of the year (99.66), Anderson missed 17 of his 20 checkout attempts marking his first-ever opening-round loss.

Looking ahead, De Graaf will face Paolo Nebrida, who shocked 19th seed Ross Smith. De Graaf’s victory placed him alongside Ritchie Edhouse, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Martin Schindler, who were all seeded players eliminated on the same day. Meanwhile, Callan Rydz, who set a tournament record with a 107.06 average in the first round, triumphed 3-0 against Schindler, who narrowly missed a nine-darter. Rydz’s next opponent will be Belgian Dimitri van den Bergh, who dominated in his 3-0 win over Dylan Slevin.

In a separate incident, Joe Cullen abruptly left his post-match news conference after his 3-0 win over Wessel Nijman. He accused the media of showing disrespect particularly in their coverage of Nijman’s past controversies. Furthermore, Ian ‘Diamond’ White defeated Edhouse 3-1 and will face rising star Luke Littler in the next round. Ryan Searle for his part beat Matt Campbell 3-0 while Madars Razma upset Van Duijvenbode 3-1. As the second round concludes on Monday, the third round will begin on Friday after a three-day break for Christmas.