BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Jyhan Artut - the German who missed four match darts against Gary Anderson in a bid for a historic World Championship upset

In this feature, we regularly travel back in the day with a particular darts player. Today, we do so with German player Jyhan Artut. For many years, he was one of the best-known German darts players on the international stage. Around 2010, Artut established himself as a regular on the major PDC tournaments and managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship several times. Although he never developed into an absolute world-class player, Artut enjoyed a number of memorable moments during his career. His name will be most strongly associated with his sensational performance against Gary Anderson at the 2012 World Darts Championship.

Jyhan Artut was born on October 9, 1976, in Holzminden. He made his breakthrough in his home country. In 2009 and 2010, he became German champion, quickly putting himself firmly on the map. His second German title also earned him a place at the World Darts Championship for the second consecutive year.

At the 2010 World Championship, Artut immediately caused a major upset. In the first round, he faced experienced Englishman Wayne Mardle, who at the time was one of the sport's most recognizable figures. Artut was not intimidated and secured a convincing 3-0 victory. This sent him through to the second round, where Robert Thornton was his opponent. Artut eventually lost 4-1 to the Scot.

A year later, Artut returned to Alexandra Palace. At the 2011 World Championship, he first had to come through the preliminary round. There, he defeated Hong Kong's Scott MacKenzie 4-3. In the first round, he then faced Denis Ovens. The German was unable to repeat his earlier upset against Mardle and lost 3-1.

Artut continued to develop and once again qualified for the 2012 World Championship. This time, he qualified through the European Order of Merit. His draw was particularly difficult, as the German was paired with Gary Anderson.

What happened next became one of the most memorable first-round matches in World Championship history. Artut came flying out of the blocks and won the first two sets. Anderson, who was renowned for his scoring power and rapid playing style, suddenly found himself in serious trouble.

However, the Scot fought his way back into the match. Anderson won the third and fourth sets, bringing the score level at 2-2. Everything had to be decided in a fifth and final set.

Both players had chances in that set. Artut continued to fight and appeared to be on course for a huge upset. In the tenth leg, he even had four darts to win the match outright. He failed to convert any of them. Anderson escaped and the match eventually had to be decided in a sudden-death leg.

Anderson prevailed in that leg. The defeat was particularly painful for Artut, but at the same time, he had firmly established his name among the international darts audience. The German had shown that he could compete with one of the best players in the world.