Gary Welding's stunning victory over number one seed Colin Lloyd has blown the top half of the Ladbrokes.com World Championship draw wide open.
The St Helens qualifier produced one of the most remarkable turnarounds in darts history, winning 3-2 after the world's top-ranked player had looked to be cruising into the second round.
Lloyd's three-dart average in the first set was a massive 112.7 but after he had taken a 2-0 lead his standard began to drop and Welding, a former Skybet World Grand Prix quarter-finalist, found his form with a vengeance.
The tide began to turn and the world number 52 quickly got on top, scoring heavily and finishing with aplomb as he ended the challenge of a man who had been tipped as the only credible threat to 12-times champion Phil 'The Power' Taylor.
“I was confident of beating him,” insisted Welding after his triumph against the man nicknamed 'Jaws'. “I've been hitting a lot of 180s in practice. I ignored what Colin was doing early in the match and just stuck in there and never gave in. It was all down to determination.
“I thought I had the second worst draw next to having to face Phil Taylor, but Colin has been playing as well as Phil. I thought if I could beat him I would get all the limelight!”
