Wednesday 21 December 2016 15:12, UK
Phil Taylor started his quest for a 17th World Darts Championship title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over qualifier David Platt on Sunday evening.
Seeking his first Alexandra Palace title since 2013, The Power was in merciless form as he won nine out of 11 legs and averaged 101.93 to set up a second-round match against Kevin Painter on December 27.
Australian qualifier Platt, who beat John Bowles 2-0 in a preliminary round match earlier in the evening, was barely given a chance in the opening set as Taylor averaged 100 and won 3-0 against the throw.
Platt avoided a complete whitewash when he picked up a leg in the second set, but Taylor produced an 11-dart leg to move two clear, lifting his average above 105 in the process.
Taylor has never lost in the first round at the World Championship and maintained that record by winning the third set 3-1 to progress at a canter.
Earlier in the evening, Alan 'Chuck' Norris survived a major scare as he battled back from two sets down to beat John Michael 3-2.
Last year's semi-finalist, who is seeded number 21 at this year's tournament, outscored his opponent throughout the tie but was punished for some sloppy finishing early on.
Michael sealed the first set with a classy 141 checkout and some fine combination finishing saw him take the second set and put him on the brink of the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
However, he grew visibly uncomfortable amid the heat of the Alexandra Palace stage as the match wore on and wasted a vital dart at double-top in the fourth leg of the third set which would have broken Norris.
Michael also threw for the match in the final leg of the fourth set, but former BDO world finalist Norris regained his composure to fight back and sealed a comeback triumph on double 10 in the deciding set.
Despite only hitting 11 of 39 attempts at a double, he will now face either Raymond van Barneveld or Robbie Green on December 27.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Daryl Gurney needed just over 30 minutes to get past Jermaine Wattimena with an impressive display of power scoring in a 3-1 win.
The 24th seed won the first five legs of the match as he raced into a 2-0 lead, but some errant finishing allowed his Dutch opponent to steal the third.
However, Gurney swept to victory in the fourth set to seal a fine performance that included five 180's and an average of 97.
His triumph sets up a likely second-round match with Robert Thornton after Christmas if the Scot can overcome Zoran Lerchbacher or Simon Stevenson on Wednesday.
