Kyle Anderson's bid to win back-to-back World Series titles ended in disappointment on the opening night in Australia.
He was beaten 6-1 by fellow Aussie Simon Whitlock in the 1st Round of the Melbourne Darts Masters, but Gary Anderson turned on the style at the Hisense Arena.
Gary got angry after missing seven darts for a 3-1 lead against Australian qualifier Justin Thompson. The Unicorn star then played some superb darts.
A superb 170 finish was followed by three brilliant legs in 13, 13 and 11 darts as he won at a canter with a 104 average to set up another clash with Daryl Gurney. Anderson will be looking for revenge after losing to the Irishman at the US Masters and World Matchplay.
Kyle came up against an inspired Whitlock. From one leg apiece, 'The Wizard ' hit four 180s as he won five legs on the spin.
Team Unicorn's Michael Smith and James Wade struggled for any sort of rhythm but managed to get through to the quarter-finals.
Smith was a 6-3 winner over David Platt and now faces Peter Wright, while Wade beat Koha Kokiri by the same score and he plays Whitlock.
The New Zealander missed 20 darts at doubles against Wade who chipped away and won the match with a two dart 84 finish.
Smith got better in his game. Platt actually wired D12 for a 9 darter in the second leg but the Unicorn man picked up the pace and finishes of 113 and 106 helped to get the job done.
1st Round results:
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Dave Marland
Peter Wright 6-2 Rhys Mathewson
James Wade 6-3 Koha Kokiri
Michael Smith 6-3 David Platt
Phil Taylor 6-3 Cody Harris
Raymond van Barneveld 4-6 Corey Cadby
Gary Anderson 6-2 Justin Thompson
Simon Whitlock 6-1 Kyle Anderson
Saturday Q/Finals (best of 19 legs):
Peter Wright v Michael Smith
James Wade v Simon Whitlock
Corey Cadby v Phil Taylor
Gary Anderson v Daryl Gurney
STUART PYKE reporting from the Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC
