Jeffrey de Graaf managed to record his first ever victory at the World Darts Championship on Tuesday afternoon with a fine comeback. He defeated Ritchie Edhouse 3-2 in sets after trailing 0-2.
''Finally,'' spoke a relieved De Graaf afterwards to AD.nl. His World Championship participation had hung by a thread moments before, after Edhouse had missed one matchdart on the bullseye in the third set.
In his previous six World Championship appearances, De Graaf had lost in the first round each time. This time he competed as a Swede having, since 2019, officially been a resident of Sweden. ''Maybe I should have played for Sweden earlier. You switch countries once and you win right away,'' he laughed.
However, the 33-year-old darter noted another difference. ''It's also the first time I'm placing as a qualifier. The previous times I was seeded, now I came from the underdog role.''
With a first World Championship victory in his pocket, De Graaf hopes to follow up his performance next Friday. Then, José de Sousa awaits in the second round. The Portuguese is no longer in the kind of form that saw him win the Grand Slam of Darts in 2020. ''He is a good player, but there are opportunities,'' De Graaf concluded.
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