Michael van Gerwen's hopes of defending his World Series of Darts title were shattered by a dramatic 6-5 defeat to Daryl Gurney in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Van Gerwen had been targeting a record-extending seventh title in the Dutch capital, but soon found himself 3-0 down as Gurney -- a late replacement due to the withdrawal of Lourence Ilagan -- landed a 'Big Fish' 170 checkout to silence the partisan crowd at the AFAS Live.
Although Van Gerwen rallied to break back and level before forging 5-3 ahead, he then failed to land any of his six match darts before Northern Irishman Gurney took out 32 to move into the round of 16.
Dutch No. 1 Gian van Veen did give the home crowd something to cheer about as he saw off Chris Dobey 6-2 in the final match of the night.
World No. 2 Luke Humphries had earlier held off the challenge of Jermaine Wattimena, coming through 6-4 against the Dutchman -- helped by a double-bullseye 132 checkout along the way.
In Thursday's opening match, Dirk van Duijvenbode fought back from 3-0 down to beat Sweden's Viktor Tingstrom 6-4 and goes on to face Humphries in the next round.
Ross Smith comfortably saw off Dutchman Kevin Doets 6-3 and he will take on Gurney for a place in the quarterfinals.
Ryan Searle threw four 180s as he dispatched former world champion Rob Cross 6-2. Searle goes on to play Josh Rock, who won the last three legs to edge out Stephen Bunting 6-5.
Karel Sedlacek marked his World Series Finals debut with a 6-4 win over New Zealander Ben Robb, landing five maximums, and will next play Van Veen.
The first round continues on Friday where Luke Littler, James Wade and Jonny Clayton will take to the stage.
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Thursday's first-round results
Viktor Tingstrom 4-6 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Rob Cross 2-6 Ryan Searle
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Ben Robb
Kevin Doets 3-6 Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting 5-6 Josh Rock
Luke Humphries 6-4 Jermaine Wattimena
Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Daryl Gurney
Gian van Veen 6-2 Chris Dobey