Phil Taylor set up a mouth-watering Ladbrokes.com World Championship second-round clash with Mick McGowan by strolling through the opening match of his title defence in Purfleet.
The 13-time world champion did not drop a leg as he cruised to a 3-0 success against Austria's Anton Pein, a former world soft-tip champion who offered no resistance.
But Taylor is certain to be given a much stiffer test by McGowan who, although a new face to many television viewers, has been making a name for himself in the floor events on the circuit.
McGowan, who came from a set down to win 3-1 against 31st seed Matt Clark, inflicted a rare defeat on Taylor in Holland two months ago and is a highly dangerous floater in the draw.
'It will be a tough match against Mick but that's how it should be - you should have tough matches in every round,' said the 46-year-old from Stoke.
Taylor had been concerned about the prospect of taking on Pein but thought the occasion had affected the Circus Tavern newcomer.
'I think nerves got to him - he didn't play as he can,' said Taylor. 'He can play 10 times better than that.'
The Taylor-McGowan match is scheduled for St Stephen's Day, and it gives the Irish debutant time to come to terms with the unfamiliar surroundings which meant he took time to settle against Clark.
'It was nothing like I thought it would be up there,' admitted the 33-year-old qualifier from just outside Dublin.
'I watched an earlier match and thought I would be okay with the atmosphere. But when they called my name to go on stage I thought 'This is not what I expected'.
While those two results were fully expected there were shocks on day one of the £500,000 tournament, and in the first match on stage Ronnie Baxter failed to get his bid off the ground as he lost to Adrian Gray.
The Lancastrian, a two-time runner-up in the rival British Darts Organisation's version of the world title, was always playing catch-up against his 25-year-old opponent and went down 3-2.
For Swindon-based Baxter it was a second consecutive exit at the opening hurdle of this event having been beaten by Ray Carver of the United States last year.
Another shock occurred when four-time South African champion Wynand Havenga knocked out Steve Maish, the 26th seed, 3-2.
The 41-year-old finance manager from Cape Town is the first player from his country to contest the World Championship.
