PDC World Darts Championship day nine: Paul Lim nearly hits nine-darter 27 years after his historic perfect leg

EVENING SESSION

Lim thrills fans with nine-dart attempt

Darts legend Paul Lim came agonisingly close to what would have been the most thrilling nine-dart finish of all time in his second-round defeat to Gary Anderson.

The 63-year-old, who made his World Championship debut in 1982 before hitting the tournament's first ever perfect leg eight years later, raised the roof by winning two games in one night on Monday to set up a clash with the Flying Scotsman.

Lim lost the opening five legs of the clash but then had the Alexandra Palace crowd on their feet - not to mention the millions watching around the world - when he followed up a 177 with a 180 to give himself a chance of a nine-darter.

He returned to the oche to hit two more treble 20s just when everyone braced themselves for a huge dose of darting magic, he narrowly missed his attempt at double 12 on the inside.

Clearly rocked by the miss, Lim proceeded to miss his next six darts at double as Anderson punished him to take the second set 3-0.

The Singapore ace bravely fought back straight after the interval with a 10-darter to finally get off the mark and went on to pull a set back.

Anderson, who averaged 97.46 despite being outscored on the 180s count 6-4, responded with a 104 checkout to take the fourth set 3-1 before completing the job 3-2 in the fifth.

Lim told Sky Sports: "I can't breathe! I'm going to have nightmares tonight, I know that. I just wanted to do it, it was an opportunity missed."

Anderson, celebrating his 47th birthday, said: "Paul is an absolute gentleman and still a classy player. If Paul had hit the nine-darter, that would've been the best Christmas present ever."

MVG destroys Wilson

Michael van Gerwen thrashed James Wilson 4-0 without dropping a single leg and on this evidence it'll take an incredibly special game to beat him.

The world number one and defending champion 'only' managed four 180s but he posted a sizzling average of 108.65 and nailed high checkouts of 164 and 142 in a ruthless performance.

MVG twice hit the outer bull when looking to complete 170 checkouts but he only missed a further seven darts to finish.

Wilson didn't play badly but such was MVG's scoring power, the Lethal Biscuit only managed four darts at doubles.

"I think I did everything right at the right moments, hitting 140 or a 180," said Van Gerwen. "It's all about not making mistakes and I've not been making them for some time now, hopefully I can play like that for the rest of the tournament.

"I'm going to have a happy Christmas now and prepare myself for the last 16 - I feel good."

Suljovic scraps past Thorn

Mensur Suljovic twice came from a set down to book his place in the third round as he battled to a 4-2 victory over Robert Thornton.

In a game where both players averaged in the low 90s, the fifth seed trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in sets before taking the next three on the bounce via deciding legs thanks to superb finishing under pressure.

The Champions League of Darts winner managed 100+ checkouts of 121, 120, 116 and 114, with the highest of the quartet winning him the match as Thornton waited on 25 to stay alive.

Suljovic, who will next play Dimitri Van den Bergh, told www.pdc.tv: "It's a perfect feeling. It was a very hard game. Robert played well, every time he finished and I was thinking please Robert just miss one time - every time he missed he came back stronger - it was a hard game.

"I'm happy to go through, first round I was very nervous, second round I was feeling good so everything is OK. This crowd is brilliant here."

AFTERNOON SESSION

Price is right

Gerwyn Price reached the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship for the first time with a 4-1 victory over Ian White.

Welshman Price took out a 114 checkout for the first set and doubled his advantage to move clear of White.

The third set went to the Englishman but there was no way back for White as Price pushed on for a convincing win.

Next up for Price in round three is a clash against defending champion and world number one Michael van Gerwen or James Wilson.

"I wasn’t as good at scoring as the last game but my checking out was a little bit better," Price told Sky Sports. "I never used to like playing sets but it seems to be working a little bit better for me this year.

"I’m through and I just hope that MVG loses!"

Van der Voort victory

Vincent van der Voort eased to a 4-0 victory over Steve Beaton in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship.

The Dutchman hasn't dropped a set in this year's tournament and he never looked in any danger of defeat when posting a three-dart average of 101.17 against 'The Bronzed Adonis'.

Beaton did give the crowd something to cheer when hitting a 124 checkout on the bull in the fourth set but van der Vaart wasn't distracted as he pipped the Englishman in the deciding leg to seal his victory.

After the first match I thought I’m in good shape but you have to continue," van der Voort told Sky Sports.

"This is a good win so I’m a happy man."

Youth king downs Dekker

Dimitri van den Bergh further enhanced his growing reputation with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Jan Dekker in the final match of the afternoon session.

The recently-crowned World Youth champion wasn't as impressive as he was during his first-round win against Stephen Bunting from a scoring point of view, averaging just 94.91 compared to 104, but his finishing was much sharper as he hit almost 54% of his doubles.

This was key against a player regarded as one of the best double makers in the game and arguably the key moment of the match came when van den Bergh landed a superb 126 checkout to take the third set, when Dekker was waiting on 16.

Dekker surprisingly averaged more than his opponent with 97.27 but his usual strength was weaker as he made just eight of his 21 attempts at doubles.

Friday's results

Afternoon Session
Second Round (Best of 7 sets)

• Gerwyn Price 4-1 Ian White
• Vincent van der Voort 4-0 Steve Beaton
• Jan Dekker 2-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Evening Session
Second Round (Best of 7 sets)

• Mensur Suljovic 4-2 Robert Thornton
• Gary Anderson 4-1 Paul Lim
• Michael van Gerwen 4-0 James Wilson

Related darts links

• World Darts Championship schedule, results & TV guide
• World Championship tournament predictions
• Sky Bet's World Darts Championship odds
• PDC tournament calendar & results for 2017