Daryl Gurney beats Ronny Huybrechts as Paul Lim rolls back the years
Lim victorious 35 years after his World Championship debut
Tuesday 19 December 2017 11:50, UK
Paul Lim, 63, rolled back the years to beat Mark Webster at the World Darts Championship as world No 4 Daryl Gurney underlined his credentials.
Gurney's superb display was put in the shade as Singapore's Lim, who made his World Championship debut in 1982 and hit the tournament's first nine-dart finish at the Lakeside in 1990, sent former BDO champion Webster packing with a 3-2 victory.
Lim had come through a preliminary round match against Hong Kong's Kai Fan Leung to open the evening and followed up by beating Webster in a thrilling contest to set up a meeting with two-time champion Gary Anderson in the last 32 - where he has not been since 2001.
The Singapore Slinger has mixed it with the likes of Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow and John Lowe down the years and he produced the display of his career to average almost 100 throughout and surviving a fightback from Webster.
The Welshman had taken the opening set before a brilliant Lim levelled the contest. Averaging more than 100 and delighting the Ally Pally crowd the veteran then took the opening leg of the third set to lead the match for the first time.
Leading 2-1 in sets and 2-0 ahead in the fourth, Lim saw Webby rally brilliantly to take the match to a deciding set but rather than wilt, Lim powered to the finish line including a fantastic 114 finish and a clinical 80 check-out that sent the crowd into overdrive at almost 11.30pm.
With two of the world's top three safely through after Michael van Gerwen and Anderson eased into the tournament with 3-0 wins, Gurney, the world no 4 from Derry joined them with a 3-1 victory and a performance every bit as impressive at Alexandra Palace.
Averaging 100.51 against Huybrechts, and pinning seven 180s along the way, Gurney looked to have secured the headlines before Lim's heroics. Gurney underlined the belief he showed in an interview with Sky Sports' Wayne Mardle in which he said he believes he can beat most players if he plays to his best.
Success at the World Grand Prix earlier this year was the high point of a consistent season for Gurney. He has reached the last eight of every major televised tournament, and another deep run at Alexandra Palace beckons.
Gurney was in outstanding form, and needed to be, in dispatching Huybrechts who matched him dart for dart before Gurney powered away in the fourth set for a win that sees him through to a last 32 meeting with either John Henderson or Marko Kantele.
The pair averaged 110 in an opening set that went the distance, before Gurney clinched it with a 13-dart leg having opened up with a 10-darter than included seven perfect darts.
The 31-year-old carried on as Huybrechts' level dipped slightly allowing Gurney to move into a 2-0 lead and stand on the brink of victory when he claimed the opener in the third.
To his credit, Huybrechts battled back to reel off three on the bounce, take the set and haul himself back into the contest. But Gurney is capable of a surge to the finish line these days and with a brilliant 170 finish the highlight he sealed his spot in the second round.
Fifth seed Suljovic breezed into the second round with an emphatic straight-sets victory over 2004 world finalist Kevin Painter. The Champions League of Darts winner was not at his vintage best but dropped just two legs en route to victory, prevailing with a 93.03 average.
Painter did not get a dart at double in the opening set, as Suljovic won three straight legs and drew first blood with a tidy 13-darter.
The pair then exchanged three successive breaks of throw in a topsy-turvy second set, before Suljovic converted a clinical 72 kill for a 15-dart hold to double his lead, despite Painter landing a brace of maximums in the leg.
The Austrian followed up a scrappy break of throw by landing a 13-dart break to move to the cusp of victory, and although Painter dispatched a two-dart 88 combination to stay alive, Suljovic sealed the win with a 13-darter, to set up a second-round showdown against Robert Thornton.
Earlier in the night, Lim secured a straight-sets win over Leung before the sensational drama that put the seal on a memorable night and accounted for a ninth member of the world's top 32 to crash out at the first hurdle.
The 2018 World Championship from Alexandra Palace continues on Tuesday night with coverage underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Darts and ending with the final on New Year's Day.
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