Scott Williams made a confident start to his Paddy Power World Darts Championship campaign with victory in his first round match on Tuesday afternoon.
The Swineshead player defeated Paolo Nebrida in the opening game of his campaign at the Alexandra Palace in London.
Williams strutted his stuff on the big stage with his forte of look-away 180s being matched by some impressive finishing in his 3-0 victory.
Scott Williams
The first two legs of the opening set went with throw before Williams upped the ante to run out a 3-1 winner.
He took out an unorthodox 82 check-out through a 25, 25, double 16 route to break Nebrida in the third leg before again hitting 32 to seal the set.
Williams took out 56 to make a strong start to the second set by holding his throw and then followed it up with a 100 check-out to wrestle the initiative away from his Filipino opponent.
Despite missing two doubles to clinch the set, Williams hit double two for a sixth successive leg win and a 2-0 set advantage.
He hit the same double to take the darts from Nebrida in the opening leg of the third set and then followed that up with a 70 shot-out to increase his advantage.
Although Nebrida briefly stopped the rot by holding his throw in the third leg, Williams finished in style with two double 18s for a 92 check-out.
Williams – who is currently ranked 36th in the world – reached the semi-finals in 2024 and was beaten in the third round last year.
He faces the winner of the Jermaine Wattimena against Dominik Gruellich tie in the next round.
The 33rd staging of the World Championship features an expanded 128-player field and also includes a prize fund of £5m – including a £1m prize to the winner.
