The PDC Home Tour was forced into a change of format midway through Group 12 after Keegan Brown had to withdraw due to technical issues.
NHS worker Brown was on a rare night off from working in a testing laboratory on the Isle of White, but his internet stopped working after his first match and he was irretrievable for the rest of the night.
That left the PDC with some quick thinking to do and Brown's match – where he lost to Conan Whitehead – was voided to make it a three-man group with Whitehead, Max Hopp and Mike De Decker playing each other twice to decide who made it through to the knockout stage.
And the German Hopp came out on top after he beat De Decker and Whitehead after the restart to finish top of the group.
It had all been going well for Whitehead as he won his opening two games, including a 5-2 trouncing of Brown.
But he was beaten by Hopp, in a game that was brought forward in the schedule as Brown tried to get back online, and then the win over Brown was expunged.
After Hopp had taken out De Decker in the first game after the resumption, the world number 24 then beat Whitehead for the second time in the night to ensure top spot.
