PDC World Championship: Defending champion Smith squeezes through

Three of them were first-round matches, with the second round kicking off with Michael Smith starting his title defence against the winner of Kevin Doets and Stowe Buntz.

Catch up on the opening day action:

Kevin Doets (66) 3-0 Stowe Buntz (95)

Doets started the World Cup with a maximum score and also managed to drag in the leg he was allowed to start.

After the American missed in the second leg, Doets broke and won that as well.

In the third leg, the roles were reversed and Buntz fought his way back into the set after Doets' misses to make it 2-1.

In the fourth leg, Doets took care of business and won the first set with the third break in a row.

After three misses on the double 8 by Buntz, he was broken again in the first leg of the second set. The fifth break in a row became reality as Buntz levelled the score again in the set. The breaking did not stop and Doets got on set point and was allowed to start the fourth.

Despite the fact that the level of the two debutants was not yet anything to write home about, the crowd clearly showed they did not want to go home yet. Doets got an arrow to take the set and did not fail this time.

Knowing he only needed one more set to meet world champion Michael Smith, Doets made it 1-0 in the third set. Buntz threw his first double 20 in the second leg after he had previously missed five attempts.

A fine 112 finish put the Dutchman back in the lead and also on match point. Doets started the fourth leg with 180, but could not take the initiative before Buntz levelled the score and Doets started the fifth leg. Throwing 168, Doets left tops and hit his second match arrow.

The victory meant Doets would come to the board against Michael Smith.

Cameron Menzies (63) 3-0 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (89)

The presence of Cameron Menzies was quickly apparent. Once again, the Scottish plumber's enjoyment radiated from the match. He had little trouble with Austrian Rusty-Jake Rodriguez in the first set and managed to win the first three legs.

In the second set, both men managed to break each other once, the 1-1 meant the first leg of the match for Rodriguez.

Slowly, RJR got into the match and he soon took the lead by taking the third leg. By continuing to finish well, Menzies managed to win the set. He hit six of his eight attempts at the doubles at that point.

Menzies started missing dimes and that enabled the young Austrian to take a 2-1 lead in the third set. Rodriguez missed four darts to win the set and saw Menzies move to 2-2.

The fifth leg was started by the Scot who was soon on match point. Menzies ran away from Rodriguez partly because of a 180 and hit his third match dart.

Menzies will play Dave Chisnall in the second round on Saturday afternoon.

Simon Whitlock (43) 3-2 Paolo Nebrida (-)

Nebrida immediately gave his calling card by finishing 116 in his first leg. Due to particularly sloppy finishing from Whitlock, the Filipino made it 2-0 via a break.

Nebrida was able to find the triples well and this helped him win the first set 3-0.

In the first leg of the second set, the Australian got on the scoreboard for the first time. At 1-1, The Wizard threw a big finish by throwing out 90 and prevented a nasty break.

Nebrida levelled the score with a fine 84 finish on the bullseye and the set went to a decisive fifth leg, which Whitlock got to start. Nebrida got a dart on double 16 for the set, but couldn't make it count and saw Whitlock move to 1-1 in sets.

Whitlock took the lead for the first time in the first leg of the third set.

He managed to extend his lead by breaking in the second leg and at that point he was throwing almost 100 average in the third set, a big improvement from the first two sets where he was hitting around 80 and 90 averages.

Nebrida had plenty of chances to level the score after 2-1 through a break but had to leave set three to Whitlock.

The first leg of the fourth set saw the third break of the match and Nebrida took a 1-0 lead.

Nebrida was not yet comfortable with the route via tops and failed to hit double 10, but hit double 7 for a 2-0 lead via a loose dart in the 6.

The third leg went to Whitlock in 12 darts, but Nebrida started the fourth to win the set. He managed to do so as Whitlock failed to apply any real pressure.

With a superb 121 finish, Nebrida took the first leg of the deciding set in 12 darts. After keeping his own leg, Whitlock reached 2-1 with a break and match point.

He started the fourth leg with two 140s. After four missed match darts, Nebrida had a handful of darts to stay alive. That failed and the sixth matchdart was a hit for Whitlock.

Whitlock will play two-time champion Gary Anderson in the second round.

Michael Smith (1) 3-2 Kevin Doets (66)

The English world champion shot out of the starting blocks with a break and a 1-0 lead.

The second leg also went fairly easily to Smith in 14 darts. Doets started the third leg with two 180s and went in for a nine-darter. However, arrow seven missed the triple, but with Smith on 310, Doets was allowed to come back and take the leg in 11 darts.

In the fourth leg, Doets was able to seize the initiative and led from 110. However, the double 18 was missed and Smith took the first set.

Smith was relentless after Doets missed a dart on tops to take a break ahead.

In the third leg, Doets again got an arrow to break, but again it was the Englishman who took the leg. Doets was stronger in scoring than Bullyboy at that point, allowing the Dutchman to level the score in the second set.

Smith started the fifth leg and both men found two triples in their first two innings. With Smith on 72, Doets left tops. Smith then missed tops and Doets took the second set via double 5.

Doets came out of the break with another 180 score, his sixth of the match. In 12 darts he took the first leg of the third set and took the lead for the first time in the match.

Smith briefly made himself heard by throwing out 150 in his own leg. The set went to a decisive fifth leg, which Doets got to start. Doets stayed ice cold and made it 2-1 in sets via double 16.

Smith managed to keep his own first leg partly due to a 180. In the second leg, Smith hit the bullseye for a 121 finish and managed to post the first break since the second set.

Doets struck back by taking Smith's leg to 2-1. Doets had a chance on double 16 to force a decisive fifth leg but saw Smith inexorably take the set to himself.

Smith threw out 142 in the first leg, which Doets had started. That hit the Dutchman very hard. It also earned the world champion the support of the crowd. Smith threw everything in that phase and made it 2-0. Doets needed to win the next two legs to force an extension.

However, Smith started the leg with 180 and 140 and Doets' resistance seemed broken.

The debutant - as he promised - played the match of his life. Smith missed five matchdarts and Doets managed to keep his own leg. The sixth matchdart did go in and Smith was allowed to breathe a sigh of relief.