Flying Scotsman Gary Anderson went off the rails in astonishing fashion as he was turfed out of Ally Pally by 500-1 outsider Jeffrey De Graaf. In the biggest upset of the tournament, two-time champion Anderson was humbled on his 54th birthday and fell at the first hurdle in the PDC World Championship for the first time in his 16 appearances at the tournament. Third favourite to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy before the first shower of tungsten at Alexandra Palace, his catastrophic performance was at odds with his form this year.
Anderson had already seen former world champions Michael Smith and Raymond van Barneveld fall by the wayside, and a record 12 averages of 110-plus in 2024 appeared to have immunised him against an upset. But nobody saw his 3-0 defeat in 21 minutes coming as De Graaf – born in Holland but an adopted Swede – roared out of the blocks and Anderson had no answers. Incredibly, the Scot missed 16 of his first 17 shots at a double, and Anderson had no chance of catching up after such a disastrous start.
Greeted noisily to the stage by his Saltire-clad supporters, the Caledonian voices were stunned into silence as No.14 seed scattered his arrows around the outer ring like a toddler feeding the ducks. And as Anderson shuffled off into the night, there was an air of Father Time tapping him on the shoulder and calling in his debts.
Take nothing away from De Graaf, who was clinical and deadly on the doubles, hitting 75 per cent of his checkouts where the Tartanic.
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