Simon Whitlock shrugged off the pain of a broken ankle to storm into the second round of the PDC World Championship Darts with a 3-0 win over Dennis Smith on Wednesday
You can watch the 2011 World Championship Darts live streamed online for free at Ladbrokes if you are in the UK (use promo code MAXIMUMBONUS), or Bet365 if you live outside the UK.
The Australian has not competed since the end of October, when he broke a bone in his left ankle, and was still limping as he took to the Alexandra Palace stage - but any pain he was receiving was helped by the fact he threw a 105 average.
The Wizard hit seven 180s and dropped only one leg in defeating Swindon's experienced Smith, who could only applaud Whitlock's brilliant performance as he was knocked out of the £1 million tournament.
Whitlock, the 2010 runner-up, will now take on Steve Beaton in the second round after Christmas.
The Australian said: "I'm shocked to be honest because my preparation for this has been awful. A week ago I couldn't hit three 20s in a row and I've only really had one week's practice in the last seven.
"Just walking has been hard so it's an achievement for me to make the stage, and to play like that is amazing. I feel like I did when I first started playing when I was 16.
"I have a lot of determination and desire to do well here because I'm defending £100,000 on the Order of Merit and I want to be in the Premier League again next year, and I also want to be World Champion."
Wednesday night featured some high drama with South African number one Devon Petersen winning a dramatic five-set clash with Steve Brown, while debutant Scott Rand and three-time World Champion John Part took 3-0 wins.
Petersen, who played in last year's World Championship before moving to the UK to compete full-time as a professional, showed his improvement over the last 12 months with a thrilling display.
The 25-year-old from Cape Town, defeated Portugal's Jose de Sousa 4-3 in the preliminary round and battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 behind against Brown to force a deciding set, in which he found himself 2-0 down before winning four successive legs to claim victory.
Rand, meanwhile, enjoyed a superb World Championship debut by whitewashing under-par Andy Smith 3-0. 2008 World Champion Part's bid for a fourth title saw him drop only two legs in a 3-0 defeat of Scotland's John Henderson, who again struggled after recently suffering a nerve problem in his right arm.
Preliminary (P) and First Round
Wednesday December 21
Andy Smith 0-3 Scott Rand
Devon Petersen 4-3 Jose de Sousa (P)
John Part 3-0 John Henderson
Simon Whitlock 3-0 Dennis Smith
Steve Brown 2-3 Devon Petersen
