Gary Anderson cuts Christmas short in his bid to retain PDC World Darts Championship title
GARY ANDERSON planned to cut his Christmas Day short - to head back to London from his home in Somerset to prepare for the next stage of the defence of his William Hill World Darts title.
Gary Anderson will be cutting his Christmas Day short
Anderson meets Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney when the second round starts at the Alexandra Palace on Boxing Day evening.
"It is the way that the draw comes out," said Anderson.
"It would have been nice to have had that break at Christmas and that time at home.
"I appreciate that some of the boys who work on the darts stay there and don't get home. But if I win on Boxing Day then I'll have a few days off."
The real business starts here as second and third round matches increase to the best-of-seven sets.