PDC William Hill World Darts Championship 2016: Scores and Results from Thursday

Defending champion Gary Anderson got his 2016 PDC William Hill World Darts Championship campaign off on the right foot on Thursday, beating Andy Boulton 3-0 in the first round.

Anderson came out firing from the opening dart and looked remarkably solid on his doubles, a positive sign after what has been a difficult year for the Scotsman.

Phil Wright and Daryl Gurney also booked their tickets to the next round. 

Here's a look at Thursday's results:

Winner	Score	Loser
Andy Boulton	2-1	Per Laursen (P)
Daryl Gurney	3-1	Jamie Lewis
Peter Wright	3-0	Keegan Brown
Gary Anderson	3-0	Andy Boulton

All statistics are courtesy of PDC.tv.

Recap

The Flying Scotsman wasted no time getting his title defence started, sweeping the first set against Boulton with an impeccable 109 average. He showed absolutely no signs of nerves, which would have been understandable after a season that was filled with more downs than ups.

Paddy Power's Josh Powell was impressed:

Included in that first set was an 11-darter and five perfect darts in the opening leg, as Boulton didn't stand a chance against Anderson.

The second set played out in a similar way, with Anderson's average dropping slightly to 105, still well above Boulton's. Another sweep followed, putting the Flying Scotsman within one set of the second round.

PDC Darts summarised Anderson's dominance best early in the third set:

Boulton didn't win one, but two legs in the final set and forced a decider, but Anderson wasted little time in the final leg, pushing Boulton back before finishing in style.

Earlier in the evening, Boulton had beaten Per Laursen 2-1 in the preliminary round, despite struggling to an average of just over 83 and a checkout percentage of 24.

Gurney cruised to a 3-1 win over Jamie Lewis, becoming the first player to qualify for the second round. Gurney swept the first set, hitting two 180s and averaging 110, and while Lewis fought back to take the second set, the Dude never looked particularly troubled. He would go on to lose just two more legs, booking his spot in the next round with relative ease.

As shared by PDC Darts, he was mainly happy to get his first win out of the way:

Wright looked absolutely sensational in his whitewash win over Keegan Brown, surrendering just two legs in the entire match. Snakebite never even gave the talented youngster a shot at the doubles in the opening set, and after another dominant showing in the second, PDC Darts was thoroughly impressed:

Brown broke throw in the first leg of the third set, but back-to-back doubles from Wright moved him within one leg of victory. Both players scored 180s in a terrific fourth leg, before a stunning 131 checkout sealed the deal for Snakebite in a decider.

Per Ladbrokes, the other competitors better take note of Wright's sensational form:

Top favourite Michael van Gerwen will start his World Darts Championship campaign on Friday when he takes on the winner of the preliminary match between Thanawat Gaweenuntawong and Rene Adams. Phil Taylor's first-round match will be on Saturday, against either Keita Ono or Alex Tagarao.  

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