Shattered Michael Smith last night crashed out of the Worlds at the hands of Kevin Doets.
The 2023 champion’s miserable year was capped by a tie-breaker loss to the Dutchman.
Doets almost dumped Smith 12 months ago, but took his ultimate revenge for that agonising defeat to win a thriller.
Bully Boy’s loss will see him plummet down the rankings as well as crash out of the Ally Pally.
But it was a special moment for Doets, who said: “This was the most stressful game I’ve had in my life.
“I cannot describe it. The game was weird. He took his sets easily, I took mine easily and the last set was incredible.
“Since he went 2-1 up, I had a focus and, if I felt if I kept it, I wouldn’t lose. To get over the line is amazing. This win means so much to me.”
Beforehand, Scott Williams also won a superb match with a sizzling success over Niko Springer, while there were also comfortable triumphs for Nick Kenny and Matt Campbell over Stowe Buntz and Mensur Suljovic respectively.