Colin Osborne today became the latest seed to be sent packing by a qualifier at the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Darts Championship.
Osborne lost 3-1 to Dutchman Erwin Extercatte, who defied 10 maximums from the 20th seed to progress to the second round.
Despite consistently outscoring his opponent, Osborne was unable to produce the doubles when it mattered most and joined the likes of Terry Jenkins, Dennis Priestley and Colin Lloyd in suffering a shock first-round exit.
Alan Warriner-Little narrowly avoided adding his name to that list after surviving a scare from China’s Shi Yongsheng.
The 28th seed won 3-1 after qualifier Yongsheng stunned the former World Grand Prix champion by taking the second set of their contest and also leading in the third.
“I’ve never been so nervous in all the years I’ve been playing,” admitted Warriner-Little.
“Everyone expected me to win it but it was hard.”