Scotsman Gary Anderson failed to reach the PDC World Darts Championship fourth round for the first time in nine years after Englishman Chris Dobey beat him 4-1 - despite an early storm which saw him lead.
Anderson, 52, entered the tournament in the second round, and defeated Latvian star Madars Razma with relative ease to set up a date with Dobey, who had beaten Martijn Kleermaker on Friday.
Having tasted World Championship glory in 2015 and 2016, Anderson was expected to cruise against Dobey to reach the fourth round of the PDC World Championship for the ninth year running - though Dobey's brilliance showed that he had other ideas. Averaging 115 in the first set, Anderson came flying out of the blocks against a shocked-looking Dobey, with the Newcastle-born star knowing he had a serious challenge up against him. Taking the first set 3-0, fans could already begin to envisage Anderson in the next round after taking the more inexperienced Dobey to the cleaners in the first set.
But Dobey fought back; despite the odds being against him, a 3-2 win in the second leg before completely dominating Anderson in the third set to once again take the game to 2-1 in his own favour really saw him upset the apple cart. The fourth set couldn't have gone much worse for Anderson; with the Scot needing to win to keep the pressure on and the tie levelled, he threw some poor darts and failed to exert his usual dominance.
Dobey almost won the set against the throw with a 160 finish, though his valiant attempt at tops missed - before Anderson then capitalised three darts later to set up a tense final leg with Dobey taking the throw. And, as the tie had proved for so long, Anderson failed to show his usual dominance - Dobey's 180 and double 16 finish put the Englishman 3-1 up, leaving Anderson's chances of progression dangling by a thread.
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Dobey then continued his superb spell by beating Anderson in the first leg, despite the Musselbergh-born maestro having the hold of throw. Fortunately for Anderson, he reversed that in the next leg with a 91 checkout to keep Dobey at arms' length. Even at this point, Anderson had a higher average and double percentage - he had just been much more clinical.
A 180 from Dobey gave him the chance for a 121 checkout, and though he missed the bullseye, he left himself just 33 to take the game to the next level. That, of course, was without Anderson making any mistakes - and after hitting the 19 with just 15 left, it set a precedent for Dobey to romp home with the hold of throw. And that he did. Anderson was sent packing in a shock 4-1 loss to a competitor who was 11 places below him in the world rankings, much to his own shock and the Ally Pally crowd's disbelief - though take nothing away from Dobey.
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