Phil Taylor kicked off his William Hill Grand Slam campaign with a 5-1 win over teenage debutant James Hubbard on Sunday, while Raymond van Barneveld and defending champion Scott Waites were sensationally dumped out of the competition.
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Taylor, who won the first three Grand Slam events before suffering a quarter-final loss to Steve Beaton last November, opened Group E with a comfortable victory over Hubbard.
The 19-year-old from Norfolk had qualified by reaching the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final last Friday, and after Taylor led 2-0 he won the third fourth leg to secure a chalk against the 15-time World Champion.
Taylor, though, proved too strong in the next two before punishing four missed doubles from the youngster to gain an opening victory.
"I'm happy with that because I didn't know how James would play, but he did well," said Taylor. "He's dedicated and he's got a big future ahead of him."
The big story of the evening session saw five time world champion Raymond van Barneveld all but exit the competition after losing the all important battle with Ted Hankey.
Van Barneveld had shared the opening four legs before Hankey took the fifth and then finished 121 to break and move 4-2 up, before winning the next on double ten for a victory which, coupled with Winstanley's victory over White, ended his opponent's hopes in the event.
2010 champion Scott Waites also fell at the first hurdle after blowing a 4-1 lead to lose 5-4 to fellow BDO star Tony O'Shea; his exit confirmed as Mark Walsh recorded a 5-3 victory over Michael van Gerwen in Group A.
Wolverhampton's home favourite Wayne Jones maintained his unbeaten start in Group C, overcoming Nigel Heydon 5-3, while Gary Anderson defeated Brendan Dolan 5-1.
In Group D, 2010 runner-up James Wade overcame Justin Pipe 5-4 to pick up his second deciding-leg win of the event, with Pipe missing the bull for victory in a tense final leg.
Terry Jenkins and Dave Chisnall shared eight 180s in a high-scoring opener to Sunday's evening session, with Jenkins taking a 5-3 win.
Elsewhere, former World Champions Mark Webster and John Part set up a tasty meeting in Monday's second matches after they overcame Arron Monk and Jan Dekker respectively in their Group G openers.
Paul Nicholson had opened Sunday afternoon's play with a whitewash of Welshman Barrie Bates in Group F, and now plays Wes Newton on Monday after the UK Open finalist came from 2-0 down to defeat Swedish Wildcard Qualifier Magnus Caris 5-2.
World champion Adrian Lewis also produced a fine display to narrowly see off Martin Phillips 5-4 in the game of the afternoon.
Groups E-H play their second games on Monday night, with the matches including a rematch of the 2010 quarter-final between Phil Taylor and Steve Beaton, which the latter won to end the Stoke great's reign in the Grand Slam of Darts.
William Hill Grand Slam of Darts
Sunday November 13
Afternoon Session
Groups E-H First Games
Paul Nicholson 5-0 Barrie Bates (F)
Wes Newton 5-2 Magnus Caris (F)
Mark Webster 5-4 Arron Monk (G)
Vincent van der Voort 3-5 Co Stompe (H)
Mervyn King 3-5 Steve Beaton (E)
Phil Taylor 5-1 James Hubbard (E)
Adrian Lewis 5-4 Martin Phillips (H)
Jan Dekker 2-5 John Part (G)
Evening Session
Groups A-D Second Games
Terry Jenkins 5-3 Dave Chisnall (D)
Gary Anderson 5-1 Brendan Dolan (C)
Scott Waites 4-5 Tony O'Shea (A)
Dean Winstanley 5-4 Ian White (B)
Raymond van Barneveld 2-5 Ted Hankey (B)
James Wade 5-4 Justin Pipe (D)
Wayne Jones 5-3 Nigel Heydon (C)
Mark Walsh 5-3 Michael van Gerwen (A)
