Gary Anderson knocked out by Daryl Gurney at Players Championship
Sunday 29 November 2015 09:21, UK
Gary Anderson's defence of the Players Championship was ended by Daryl Gurney in the second round as the shocks continued in Minehead.
There were also early exits for Peter Wright and James Wade at Butlins, leaving Michael van Gerwen as a strong favourite to claim yet another title.
Gurney claimed a 10-4 victory over Anderson, who struggled badly with his scoring and lost six successive legs from 4-4 to crash out.
"Neither of us played our best game but I'm happy to be through," said Gurney, who will play Benito van de Pas in Sunday's quarter-finals.
"I was lucky that Gary didn't play like he normally does but I did what I had to and tomorrow I hope to play like I did against Kim [Huybrechts] because if I do that I can go a long way in this tournament."
Van de Pas reached his first PDC quarter-final with a stunning 10-3 win over a Wade in a match full of excellent finishing.
The Dutchman averaged 105.39 and hit 66.7 per cent of his checkout darts, eight of them coming on finishes of 72 or higher.
"My floor game is finally coming to the big stage now and it's a great win for me. I took nearly all of my chances and that is what you need to do," Van de Pas said. "Hopefully I can continue to play like this and who knows what can happen."
Simon Whitlock reached his first major quarter-final for 18 months after winning the most dramatic match of the second round 10-9 against world No 4 Wright.
Both players missed four match-darts in a tense last-leg decider, which went Whitlock's way as he fought off Wright's 102 average to set up a last eight clash with Adrian Lewis, who beat Alan Norris 10-3.
"That meant the world to me," said an emotional Whitlock. "I've been in the doldrums for 18 months now and it means everything to get a win like that against a player as good as Peter Wright."
No 1 seed Van Gerwen beat good friend Vincent van der Voort 10-6 but second seeded Michael Smith was also among those on the wrong end of a shock as he fell 10-3 to the in-form Mensur Suljovic.
Last month's World Grand Prix semi-finalist Suljovic twice won five consecutive legs to see off a below-par Smith in the opening game of round two.
Dave Chisnall battled past Jamie Lewis 10-8 and Ian White completes the quarter-final line-up thanks to a 10-9 victory over Gerwyn Price.
The quarter-finals will be played on Sunday afternoon with the semi-finals and final to be played in the evening.
Watch the live draw for this year's World Darts Championship on Monday, from 10.30am on Sky Sports News HQ, and the draw will also be streamed for free on Skysports.com.
