There was to be no fairytale television debut for Brett Claydon after he was knocked out of this year’s UK Open.
The Soham man was beaten 6-3 by Danny Baggish live on ITV in the first round in Milton Keynes today (Friday), despite a strong start to the match which was the best of 11 legs.
Having traded blows for six legs in a row, Claydon lost momentum when the American broke throw for the first time in the match, before taking control.
The Shredder, in his first TV match since winning a PDC tour card, started strongly, producing a neat checkout of 54 to go 2-1 up before recovering from a missed attempt at double 20 to take a 3-2 lead.
But a chance at double four to move 4-2 up went begging, as well as breaking throw, allowing Baggish to refocus.
That opportunity enabled Baggish to score well, including a 180 in the seventh leg, to win three legs on the bounce and advance to the next round.
Claydon will now turn his attentions to the next PDC Super Series event in Milton Keynes between March 16-19.
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