SAD Steve Coote is hoping to hang on to his place in the world's top 20 after making an early exit from the World Darts Trophy in Holland.

The Farnworth ace began the event in confident mood, ranked at 13th on the planet, but came unstuck in a 3-1 opening round defeat to Dutchman Vincent Van der Voot.

Now he can only sit and wait for the next rankings to be published to see if he remains one of the elite.

"I'm not sure how far I'll drop down but this will definitely affect my ranking. I'm very disappointed," he said.

"I won the first set but lost three in a row because I missed a lot of doubles. Double top, double 16, double eight -- you name it, I missed it.

"Now I've just got to concentrate on the World Masters in November and try to put a few wrongs right there.

"I have a good record in that event, having reached the semi-finals last year, so I can still be positive."