Rob Cross put a horrible couple of months behind him as he won his opening match at the World Championship.
The 2018 debutant champion has been on a poor run of form, having lost his last five matches going back to 15 October.
But Cross has happy memories of the Alexandra Palace stage and did not need to be at his best to get past Cor Dekker 3-0.
That will boost his confidence going into the second round after dropping only two legs and sealing victory with a 170 checkout.
Ian White won the battle of the veterans as he beat Mervyn King 3-2.
Both men are over 50 and it was 'Diamond' who came out shining in a contest that went all the way.
The opening match did little to support the PDC's decision to expand the tournament to 128 players as Niels Zonneveld and Haupai Puha were involved in an hour-long slug fest.
The Ally Pally crowd did not need much invitation to be distracted as Zonneveld won a low quality affair 3-0.
Ryan Searle made light work out of Chris Landman, winning 3-0.
Gian van Veen (above) ended his wait for a first win at Alexandra Palace in the evening session after he got the better of Cristo Reyes by a 3-1 score.
Van Veen had shot up to seventh in the world rankings after an impressive 2025 and put his previous woes in this tournament behind him with a 98.91 average.
"If people say I'm someone who can beat Luke Littler, then hopefully, but it won’t be until the final. I was just looking forward to this match today and now I look forward to the second round," Van Veen reflected.
Ricky Evans backed up his Christmas-themed walk-on with a 134 checkout to beat Man Lok Leung 3-0.
There was wasp trouble for Ross Smith but despite being able to win the third set with an insect for company, he lost by a 3-2 score to debutant Andreas Harrysson at the start of the evening session.
SCUBA STEVE STAYS AFLOAT!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 12, 2025
This could be getting interesting!
Damon Heta squanders three match darts, and Lennon capitalises to keep his hopes alive!
📺 https://t.co/59TualjgND #WCDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/JyHfcjbnuU
Day two concluded with Damon Heta winning 3-1 against Carlow's Steve Lennon, who is unfortunately set to lose his Tour card after this defeat.
The Australian number one produced an impressive 58% success rate on the doubles throughout the match, recovering after missing three match darts in the third set to win the final stanza in straight legs.
