Gary Anderson has been hit by a fresh crisis after suffering from an eye injury which caused him to pull out of the German Darts Championship.
The Flying Scotsman withdrew midway through his first round match with Michael Barnard and has now been referred to a specialist as it seems the problem may be more serious than it appeared.
The 2011 World finalist struggled to see out of his left eye, now medics believe he has a problem with the tear duct and may need to have a plug put in it next week.
He is among the 125 entrants for the weekend's double header of ProTour events in Crawley, but it is unlikely he will compete as he aims to get a final diagnosis.
Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Anderson said: “I’m deeply worried to be honest. I’ve had a really dodgy left eye for about a month now but I just thought it was hay fever. When I got to Germany it hadn’t gone away and in my opening match I couldn’t focus at all out of my left eye.
“Now that’s a major problem for me because my vision of the dartboard from my right eye is completely obscured by the dart. I do all my aiming with my left eye so it’s a disaster. I don’t like losing darts matches but I hate giving up even more so I was furious in Germany.”
The 41-year-old has had his fair share of personal problems in 2012, mourning the loss of his Brother and Father in quick succession and struggled on stage as a result.
After finishing bottom of the Premier League table in May it appeared he had turned a corner at the UK Open as he fired in a nine darter and boasted a new positive attitude with new darts despite losing in round four to eventual winner Robert Thornton.
His latest setback could prevent him from appearing at the Winter Gardens in mid-July for the summer showpiece event - the World Matchplay, but Anderson remains unsure of how long he will be out of action.
“If it doesn’t go away I will have a tiny plug put into my tear duct to keep it open, I don’t really know what that entails or how long it will put me out of action," he added.
