Anderson escapes in deciding De Sousa win, Dolan dumps out Van Duijvenbode as World Grand Prix begins

Former finalist, Gary Anderson nearly saw his recent form turn into an early defeat at the World Grand Prix, but 'The Flying Scotsman' escaped in a decider against Jose de Sousa in Leicester.

Anderson himself was up against it to begin the tie as he recovered from a set down to seal a 2-1 win with a 95.5 average and six 180's. He will face off against either Rob Cross or Andrew Gilding in the second round.

De Sousa like alluded to started superbly hitting a 70 finish to seal a high quality opening set with a 102.5 average and 75% on finishing doubles. But Anderson when it looked like he was going to be on the brink of a potential shock rallied and raced to the second set in three consecutive legs despite a huge disparity in averages.

In the third set, both players held their first two legs forcing a deciding leg.

De Sousa seemed to have the chance from there, but the engine suddenly stalled as Anderson managed to come alongside with a 140 score and a 180. The two-time world champion then pulled off the victory with a 61 finish.

Dirk van Duijvenbode was also quickly eliminated at the World Grand Prix on Monday night. 'Aubergenius' was shocked by Brendan Dolan in the first round and lost 2-1 in sets.

The Dutchman started the match well. Van Duijvenbode started convincingly and won the first set 3-0 thanks to an average of over 102.

After the break, however, the good feeling quickly disappeared. Van Duijvenbode had great difficulty finding the opening doubles and saw the second set go 3-1 to his Northern Irish opponent.

Van Duijvenbode again needed six darts to open in the first leg of the third set, while Dolan was open right away. 'The History Maker' then took the lead with a 68 finish. In the second leg, Van Duijvenbode needed five darts to open, while Dolan was again open on the first turn.

The Dutchman fell too far behind scoring and saw Dolan take a 2-0 lead in the final set via double 5. In the third leg, Van Duijvenbode had one chance to stay in the match, but his double on tops went wrong. Dolan then decided the match with a 16-darter.