Michael van Gerwen survived a massive scare in a 3-1 win over Japan’s Mitsuhiko Tatsunami in the first round of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
In a nervy contest, it looked like Van Gerwen could have potentially been on his way home, which would have been a first-round exit for the first time since 2011 when he lost to Mensur Suljovic.
After showing off some slick dance moves on his walk-on, Tatsunami had the crowd firmly on his side and chanting his name, made even sweeter by the fact that the afternoon's hero Mitumo Sakai was in the crowd cheering him on.
Following three holds of throw, Tatsunami came through with a clutch 92 checkout by the most bizarre of routes, finishing it off on D11 for a 1-0 lead against the 'Green Machine'.
Tatsunami looked like he was going to romp into a 2-0 lead but MVG came to life to stop him. After the fan favourite found a break of throw and a 71 checkout, Van Gerwen hit back as he started to find the doubles and came through on D2 to level the game.
The world No 3 then made it five legs in a row as he took real control, the third set being taken with ease.
Tatsunami was not done yet as he clinched a break of throw and 62 on tops but MVG clawed his way back and after missing two match darts, was given a reprieve as Tatsunami could just not find tops, sealing his spot in the second round despite just a 29 per cent success rate on the doubles.
An emotional Van Gerwen told Your Site: "That was really difficult. I don't know what happened. I started off really c**p.
"My first darts were constantly underneath and above. Nothing really worked.
"I feel good but when you put yourself under pressure, it doesn't make it any easier.
"His finishing was great. I wasn't afraid of his scoring. When you score so bad and when you don't do what you are capable of, you get annoyed and then have to deal with your own problems.
"I kept battling my own battle. I shouldn't put myself in that position. I'm bigger than that. But that's darts."
Fallon Sherrock failed to take her chances as she fell to a 3-0 defeat against Dave Chisnall.
Sherrock broke the glass ceiling in the 2020 World Darts Championship when she became the first woman to win at the Palace after making it to the third round and she looked strong at the start of the opening leg with the crowd right on her side.
However, her doubling started to cost her, 11 missed darts on the outer ring in the first set giving Chisnall the opportunity to move 1-0 ahead.
The real Chisnall then arrived on the Ally Pally stage in the second set, taking out three legs in a row and finishing the set off with a sublime 160 checkout.
After 'Chizzy' had fired off seven legs in a row, Sherrock managed to stop the rot and took the third set to a decider but three set darts at tops cost her, allowing Chisnall to take out D7 for the match.
The best summation of Sherrock's evening was her final doubling percentage as she closed with just a 13 per cent success rate.
Elsewhere, Jermaine Wattimena was embroiled in a real battle as he clinched a 3-2 win over Dominik Gruellich to set up a second round tie against Scott Williams.
Wattimena came in to the Worlds in the greatest form of his life but had a real battle as Gruellich took him to a deciding set, the Dutchman reeling off three legs on the spin and pinning D16 to see out the encounter.
Meanwhile, Krzysztof Ratajski came through with a 3-0 victory over Alexis Toylo, his 'Big Fish' checkout the highlight as he beat Toylo for the second year in succession.
The action continues on Friday December 19, live on Your Site Darts, with two more bumper sessions.
The afternoon sees Kevin Doets vs Matthew Dennant, Ryan Meikle vs Jesus Salate, Mickey Mansell vs Leonard Gates, and Josh Rock vs Gemma Hayter.
Then we have a jam-packed evening session with William O'Connor up against Krzysztof Kciuk, Daryl Gurney facing Beau Greaves, Nathan Aspinall vs Lourence Ilagan, and Keane Barry clashing with Tim Pusey.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live all the way through until Saturday January 3 on Your Site' dedicated darts channel. .
