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    • Happy Birthday: Gary Anderson retires from World Championship
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    Happy Birthday: Gary Anderson retires from World Championship

    Pabio Posted on

    Two-time winner Gary Anderson endured a 54th birthday to forget as he bowed out of the World Championship following a shock second round defeat to Jeffrey de Graaf.

    The Scot, champion in 2015 and 2016, managed just three of his 20 takedown attempts as he was whitewashed 3-0 to fall for the first time in his opening match of the tournament.

    Anderson was the highest-profile casualty on a day of upsets at Alexandra Palace in London following the exits of fellow top seeds Ross Smith, Martin Schindler, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Ritchie Edhouse.

    The 14th seed entered the competition with the highest overall three-dart average of the year, 99.66.

    Underdog De Graaf, who had a success rate of 75 per cent and started with 11 darts, told Sky Sports: “It’s brilliant. Gary is not really present as usual but I am very happy with this victory.

    “I was very nervous after the first set and even when I was up 2-0, I was like, ‘What happens now?’

    “Maybe you could see it with a few darts too, when I missed. It was just nerves setting in, but I’m happy I finally made it.

    Earlier, Joe Cullen stormed out of his post-match press conference after accusing the media of disrespect following a 3-0 win over Wessel Nijman.

    The 2022 Masters champion, who next faces 2021 winner Gerwyn Price, gave short answers during a tense on-stage interview.

    Cullen, born in Bradford, later vented his frustration to reporters backstage before leaving prematurely.

    “I think the way I was treated probably by the media and things like that – I know you have no control over the bookmakers – I was shown no respect, so I won’t show any respect to any of you guys tonight,” he said.

    “I’m going to go home. Cheers.”

    Ian White jokingly referred to next opponent Luke Littler as “Runcorn’s number two” after battling back to beat 29th seed Edhouse.

    The 54-year-old set up a showdown with teenage sensation Littler with a 3-1 win over the European champion.

    White, born in the same Cheshire town as 17-year-old Littler, admitted he will need to improve his game on his return to oche after a three-dart average of 88.86.

    Asked if he knew who was waiting for him, White replied: “Yes, number two from Runcorn. I’m from Runcorn and I’m number one!

    “I hope it will be a better match than the one I played tonight.

    “You want to cause a surprise, you’re going to be the underdog but I’m all for that.

    “Luke Littler has done everything he can for this sport over the last two years, so keep it up.”

    Luke Littler, pictured, waits for Ian White (Zac Goodwin/PA)

    Filipino qualifier Paolo Nebrida scored the biggest win of his career by stunning former European champion and 19th seed Smith 3-0 to set up a meeting with De Graaf, while Dutch 25th seed Van Duijvenbode was beaten 3-1 by Latvian Madars Razma.

    German number one Schindler, seeded 22nd, missed doubles 12 for nine darts and a one-set lead before crashing out 3-0 to Callan Rydz.

    Ireland’s Dylan Slevin couldn’t add himself to the list of surprise results as he was beaten 3-0 by UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh.

    Ryan Searle started with a 10-dart result en route to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Canadian Matt Campbell.

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    Pabio
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