Photo: PDC

Jeffrey de Graaf was back on the Ally Pally stage yesterday and even though Rashad Sweeting won the first set, the Dutch-born Swede managed to win the match by 3-1.

Last year Jeffrey de Graaf managed to reach the third round of the World Championships in Alexandra Palace. Last night he was back on the stage, as he won 3-1 against Rashad Sweeting from Bahamas, even though the newcomer managed to win the first set of the match.

“It was fun to be back up on the stage, but also hard,” Jeffrey de Graaf tells pdc-nordic.tv

“As I have said before, I don’t really care about being the favorite, because I had already seen, that he could play some good darts. I missed quite a few doubles in the first set and he didn’t, so that is why it was hard up there. But after the first break I felt that I was playing much better and knew I would get my chances.”

“The noise from the audience increased at some point, so that was a bit disruptive, but I knew from the beginning, that he would get the audience backing him, because it was his first time on the stage and he was the first ever player from Bahamas on the stage, so I knew it would be hard.”

With the victory Jeffrey de Graaf will be facing Gary Anderson in the second round of the tournament, and even though the match will be played at December 22, Jeffrey de Graaf is going to stay in London and get himself prepared for the match.

“It is going to be more tough than this match, but I know what I am capable of, so if I just play like in the third set of this match, then I feel like I will get some chances. And the feeling will also be different, because it is not the first match. And I will also go back to not being the favorite again, and that is what I am used to. Some of the pressure is gone.”

Darius Labanauskas was also in action yesterday, however he lost against Ryan Joyce in the afternoon session.

Today the last of the three Nordic and Baltic representatives, Madars Razma, will take the stage, as he will be going up against Christian Kist in the second match of the evening.