Darts results: Gary Anderson knocked out by Chris Dobey as Alan Soutar and Jose de Sousa produc special comebacks at the PDC World Championship
Soots #Soots
Chris Dobey came from a set down to defeat Gary Anderson at the Cazoo World Darts Championship while Alan Soutar and Jose de Sousa produced remarkable comebacks.
Hollywood lost a fourth-round thriller to Anderson on this stage back in the 2018 edition and it looked as though he could be on the wrong end of another vintage display from the Flying Scotsman as he raced through the opening set 3-0 with an average in excess of 115.
However, Dobey used all his battling qualities to pinch the next three sets in deciding legs after Anderson had missed darts to edge two of them before wrapping up a 4-1 victory by taking the fifth 3-1.
Afterwards he admitted that he was inspired to finish the job after being unhappy with something the two-time world champion had said to him during one of the last intervals.
He told Sky Sports: “It was a big win, Gary Anderson is one of the biggest names in darts so it’s a massive win for me. I never gave up and will always fight until the end.
“I was a bit nervy up there but Gary said something to me in the last break and I didn’t like it so there was no way he was winning the game after that. It really annoyed me. I came out, tried to forget about it but there was no way he was winning.
“Obviously I’m not going to say it but I didn’t like it and he’s usually a class bloke. I just didn’t agree with what he said.”
Anderson’s defeat means he will drop out of the world’s top 20 following the World Championship having failed to defend much of the £200,000 in ranking money he earned from reaching the final two years ago.
Earlier, De Sousa touched a high of 25/1 in-running before producing a remarkable comeback to defeat Ryan Seale 4-3.
The Special One, who came from 2-0 down to beat Simon Whitlock in the previous round, was heading for the exit when Searle stormed into a 3-0 lead and had the darts in the deciding leg of the fourth set.
De Sousa kept the match alive with a clinical 92 checkout but it looked as though it was merely a stay of execution when Heavy Metal when 2-1 up in the fifth and eyed up tops with his last dart in hand for a match-winning 120 finish.
Searle missed on the inside and that would be his last chance to seal his place in the fourth round as the Portuguese ace punished him to pull another set back before taking the next two by 3-1 scorelines.
De Sousa averaged 91.75 compared to his opponent’s 87.51 and hit nine of the 15 180s, but he’ll need to brush up on his finishing against Gerwyn Price in the next round having spurned 43 of his 59 attempts at doubles.
In the next match on the oche, Danny Noppert was in cruise control when taking six of the opening seven legs to move into a 2-0 set lead over Soutar and averaging well over 100 in the process.
But out of nowhere, the Scottish fireman found the heroism of his day job as Noppert suffered an alarming drop slump in form during another Ally Pally comeback.
Soutar won 12 of the next 14 legs played to dominate the next four sets and reach the last 16 just like he did on debut 12 months ago.
Soots thrilled the crowd with a 152 checkout that clinched the fifth set 3-1 and then weighed in with another stunner from 130 on his way to wrapping up the sixth without reply.
More to follow…
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Wednesday December 28Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)Third Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
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Thursday December 29Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)Third Round (Best of 7 sets)TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts
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