A jittery Nathan Aspinall stumbled in his opening World Darts Championship, edging out Leonard Gates on the same night Christian Kist hit nine darts in defeat.
Aspinall, who suffered a shock defeat at the same stage last year, narrowly avoided disaster this time around, marking their post-Christmas breakthrough with a 3-1 win.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch Nathan Aspinall's 3-1 win over Leonard Gates in their World Darts Championship second round match
Gates, who beat a tearful Cameron Menzies in his first-round match on Monday, showed glimpses of the opening two sets together before Aspinall eventually broke free.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch the best of the action from the fourth night at the World Darts Championship
The American dropped 106 to break points in the first set, only for Aspinall to immediately surpass that with a 114 in the next leg to open.
But the 12th seed was desperately poor in the second set loss, averaging less than 80. Despite such struggles, he would have two darts on top for a two-set lead, but would foul his lines as Gates settled things instead.
Aspinall made slight progress in the final two sets but survived some nervous moments along the way, including dropping a couple of match points as Gates threatened to force a deciding set.
The two-time semi-finalist will know he will have to play much better if he wants another deep run at Alexandra Palace.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who had the better move between Aspinall and Gates before the second round match at the World Darts Championship?
Kist makes stunning nines, but loses
Kist's nine-dart kick was the 15th ever at the World Cup and the first since Michael Smith's famously perfect “I can't speak” leg in the 2023 final.
The Dutchman, however, could not shake off his incredible moment to win the first set as his opponent Madar Razma kept his cool and won the next three sets in style to set up a match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Kist still won £60,000 for his 9 darts, as did a lucky fan in the Ally Pally crowd, with tournament sponsors Paddy Power also donating £60,000 to Prostate Cancer to mark the moment.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
'Rapid' Ricky Evans wins 3-2 against Gordon Mathers in his first round match at the World Darts Championship
Ricky Evans he was far from his 'quick' best when he worked hard in his opening match against Gordon Mathers, forced to decide in the final set.
Evans finally got the win and set up a second-round clash with sixth seed Dave Chisnall when he took 109, the first multi-ton finish in an otherwise sloppy encounter.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Evans gets the crowd going with a rendition of 'Merry Christmas Everyone' for a very festive walk
In the opening match of the evening, a broken Jim Williams missed five darts en route to losing 3-2 in his first round match against Paolo Nebrida.
To make matters worse for the Welshman, he also missed three darts to take the opening set en route. Ross Smith awaits Nebrida in the next round.
what's next
It's another curious action on Thursday 19 December with the afternoon session returning, live on Sky Sports Darts from 12.30pm – the line-up reads: Chris Landman vs Lok Yin Lee, Callan Rydz vs Romeo Grbavac, Martin Lukeman vs Nitin Kumar and 27th seed Gabriel Clemens in a second round match against Robert Owen.
From 7pm, live on Sky Sports Darts, former world champion Michael Smith headlines the evening session, the 2023 champion and second seed takes on Kevin Doets to close the night, while the three first round matches previously include Nick Kenny v Stowe Buntz, Mensur Suljovic v Matt Campbell and last year's semi-finalist Scott Williams against Nick Springer.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live until January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and other top sports with SADA.