World Matchplay: Gabriel Clemens stuns defending champion Rob Cross
- Published
Clemens had an average of 89.22 and threw four maximums
Defending champion Rob Cross suffered a 10-8 first-round defeat against world number 40 Gabriel Clemens of Germany at the World Matchplay in Milton Keynes.
Cross is the first champion to lose in round one since Colin Lloyd in 2006.
World champion Peter Wright came from 8-5 down to beat Portuguese debutant Jose de Sousa 10-8.
Last year's beaten finalist Michael Smith, the fifth seed, had a 10-dart leg in beating Welshman Jonny Clayton 10-3 and faces Mensur Suljovic next.
Fourth seed Cross had the superior average with 94.40 against Clemens, who will play Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski in round two, but his opponent fired a 170 checkout and maintained a doubles success rate of 56% compared to the Englishman's 35%.
Wright began his match wearing glasses but soon found himself behind against De Sousa, the first Portuguese player to appear in the event, who fired an early 161 checkout.
Having dispensed with the spectacles at 8-5 down, Wright soon posted a 144 checkout and secured a second-round match with Glen Durrant after De Sousa threw a one when requiring double top to level at 9-9.
Earlier, Suljovic, beaten finalist in 2018, recorded five 100-plus checkouts as he came from 9-7 down to beat Jamie Hughes 12-10 in extra time.
Durrant had an average of 106.93 as he secured a commanding 10-3 win over Jeffrey De Zwaan.