Surprise result as Gary Anderson returns to European Tour darts

Gary Anderson's return to the European Tour after a seven-year absence ended in a surprise first-round defeat to Czech qualifier Roman Benecky at the Dutch Darts Championship.

The Musselburgh player, 52, is a former BDO and WDF world number one, and a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016. Making his first European Tour appearance since Leeuwarden in 2016, the The Flying Scotsman was off form as he went down 6-2.

A disappointing display from Anderson saw him average just 87.66 as Benecky took full advantage to set up a second-round meeting with Martin Schindler. It was a bad night for the Scots all round as Andy Boulton lost 6-4 to Krzystof Ratajski while Alan Soutar went down 6-2 to Berry van Peer.

Raymond van Barneveld also suffered defeat on the opening day. Competing on home soil, Van Barneveld went down 6-3 to Premier League star Dimitri Van den Bergh.