Luke Humphries booked his place in the second round of the World Darts Championship with a 3-1 win over former youth champion Ted Evetts on Saturday.
'Cool Hand Luke' flew out of the blocks as he raced into a 2-0 lead with an average north of 100, but he faltered in the third set, allowing Evetts to come back into the game.
The 2024 champion, who proclaimed after the Grand Slam that he would win this year's world championship, eventually settled back into a groove to seal a victory that included eight 180s.
Humphries will face Paul Lim in the second round after the 71-year-old darts legend beat Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 to become the oldest player to win a world championship match.
Lim, who hit the first nine-darter in world championship history in 1990, beat Humphries when they faced off at 'Ally Pally' five years ago.
Asked about the prospect of facing the veteran Singaporean, Humphries told Sky Sports: "It's amazing what he's doing -- he's a legend.
"The hardest thing for me is that he loves me to bits! I talk to him a lot and he says, 'You're my favourite player.' Since we played each other he's kept in touch and he always said, 'You'll go on to do big things,' and he was right. But yeah, it's gonna be hard -- the crowd will be against me!"
Meanwhile, Wessel Nijman progressed to the second round after looking at home on the Alexandra Palace stage in a 3-0 success against Karel Sedlacek. Gabriel Clemens advanced after outclassing American Alex Spellman 3-0.
Anderson's win inspired by 'new' Ally Pally
Earlier on Saturday, Gary Anderson said the thought of playing in a 'new' arena is keeping him going at the world championship.
The two-time champion edged through his first-round clash at Alexandra Palace, getting the better of Adam Hunt 3-2.
Anderson is a threat to the favourites this year and, with the tournament moving to a new, bigger stage at the same venue as part of a new deal in the future, he wants to remain in the mix.
"I got over the line, if you think, you lose," he said of his win. "If you think and get into it, it's not good for you -- you try not to think.
"This is what it's all about. I just want to keep going so I can get a shot on the new stage next year."
Elsewhere in the afternoon session on day three, Andrew Gilding beat Cam Crabtree 3-1, Luke Woodhouse saw off Boris Krcmar by the same score and David Davies whitewashed Mario Vandenbogaerde 3-0.
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Information from PA contributed to this report.