Strong start for Barney

Van Barneveld: Metronomic darts

Round one results:
M Walsh 3-2 J Caven
M Dudbridge 3-2 N Fullwell
W Newton 3-1 P Laursen
D Ovens 3-0 S Maish
A Hamilton 3-0 M Barnard
W Mardle 3-0 D Fatum
R van Barneveld 3-0 M Stephenson
M Suljovic 3-2 P Manley
Preliminary round:
C Losper 6-4 S Fitzgerald
R Van Eijden 5-3 A Dobromyslova

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Raymond van Barneveld appears intent on fighting for a second PDC World Championship after producing a fine first-round display against Mark Stephenson at Alexandra Palace.

The Dutchman produced metronomic darts as he romped to a 3-0 victory, a result which set up a second-round meeting with Wes Newton, who earlier beat Denmark's Per Laursen 3-1.

Chasing his sixth world title in all, van Barneveld rattled his way through the first set without losing a leg - and averaging almost 110.

The pace hardly abated in the second set, with van Barneveld hitting doubles at a rate of 86 percent in taking a 2-0 lead.

Stephenson hit a double six to win his first leg of the match in the third set and after the Dutch master took the third, the Tynesider hit double 16 for two legs apiece.

His first maximum followed but van Barneveld immediately hit back with one of his own - his average albeit slumping in the closing stages of the match.

Despite missing an 18 checkout, Stephenson's failure to hit 25 allowed van Barneveld back in to secure a 3-0 victory.

Van Barneveld later told Sky Sports that his strong start was as a result of a late decision to switch back to an old set of darts.

"I heard a voice inside me that said 'Ray, you have to go back to the old darts'," he said. "And I started practicing with them last Monday."

Of his performance, van Barneveld, who plays Newton on December 28, added: "It's a lot of pressure the first game because you want to be here after Christmas."

Upstaged

However, van Barneveld was arguably upstaged by Anastasia Dobromyslova on Sunday evening, the Russian making her bid to strike a blow for womankind at the oche.

The women's World Champion took the first leg in her preliminary match against Remco van Eijden but the Dutch qualifier defied the audience's booing to take a 3-1 lead in their best-out-of-five encounter.

Dobromyslova made yet more history in the fifth leg with the first ever maximum scored by a woman at the Championship, pulling back a leg in the process.

A 60 checkout then allowed her to level the match, but van Eijden took the next to move within one leg of victory.

Looking to make an 81 checkout to stay in the match, Dobromyslova missed a double 10, with her opponent hitting double 17 to take the win.

Dobromyslova later said: "I'm disappointed but I wasn't good enough on the day. I felt comfortable on stage but we were both nervous in the first few legs and I felt some pressure.

"But this is just the start for me and I'll be better for the experience. I'll be travelling to all the PDC tournaments next year and hopefully I will qualify again."

Sunday's last match produced a big upset, with world number 13 Peter Manley losing 3-2 against Austrian qualifier Mensur Suljovic.

With Suljovic fighting back from a set down, the Carlisle thrower then appeared in deep trouble when a 101 checkout allowed his opponent to go 2-1 ahead.

Manley fought back immediately with his first maximum of the match and nine out of 13 hits saw him take the fourth set and force a decider.

Momentum appeared to be with 'One Dart' at this stage but he then let the match slip through his fingers, Suljovic fighting back to win with a 40 checkout.

He now plays Mark Dudbridge, who scraped through on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory against Nick Fullwell.

The evening's first match saw Andy Hamilton progress to the second round in straightforward fashion, an average of over 101 easing him to a 3-0 win against Michael Barnard.

Mardle romp

Wayne Mardle romped through his opening-round match against David Fatum, 'Hawaii 501' losing only one leg in winning 3-0 and setting up a second-round meeting with Robert Thornton.

Denis Ovens defeated Steve Maish 3-0, while Charles Losper prevailed 6-4 in a preliminary-round encounter with Sudesh Fitzgerald.

Mark Walsh posted a 3-2 win over Jamie Caven but was left to rue a missed double 12 which denied him what would have been the first ever nine-dart finish in the history of the PDC World Championship - and a £20,000 bonus.