Anderson avoids shock to reach World Championship second round

Gary Anderson booked his place in the second round of the PDC World Championship with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Adam Hunt.

Two-time champion Anderson, 54, was given a stern examination by world number 84 Hunt but the Flying Scotsman was able to battle back from 2-1 down to progress.

Anderson, seeded 14th, will next play the winner of the match between Connor Scutt and Simon Whitlock .

“That’s probably the best Adam has played all season. The first game is the hardest, but I’m through,” Anderson told Sky Sports.

Anderson, who won back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016, held his nerve to win the first set 3-2 against the 32-year-old Englishman.

However, he missed double top in the deciding leg in the second set and Hunt took his chance to level the match up with a confident 72 checkout.

Hunt won the third set as Anderson’s average plummeted but the Scot raised his game in the fourth and took control early in the decider as Hunt failed to recover from an early break of throw.

Elsewhere, Welsh amateur David Davies secured a dream tie with defending champion Luke Littler in the next round after causing a minor upset on his World Championship debut.

Davies claimed a 3-0 win over Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde – 66th in the PDC rankings – thanks to a checkout average of 37.5%.

Andrew Gilding saw off a spirited effort from 22-year-old tournament debutant Cam Crabtree as he progressed with a 3-1 win over his fellow Englishman thanks to an average of 97.89.

Afternoon session

Mario Vandenbogaerde 0-3 David Davies

Andrew Gilding 3-1 Cam Crabtree

Luke Woodhouse (25) 3-1 Boris Krcmar

Gary Anderson (14) 3-2 Adam Hunt

Evening session (from 19:00 GMT)

Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim

Wessel Nijman (31) v Karel Sedlacek

Luke Humphries (2) v Ted Evetts