PDC William Hill World Darts Championship 2015: Scores and Results from Saturday

Phil Taylor easily disposed of Japan's Keita Ono during Saturday's 2015-16 PDC William Hill World Darts Championship action, while  Dimitri Van den Bergh caused one of the biggest shocks of the first round, beating Ian White 3-1 during the afternoon session.

The flamboyant Belgian overcame some early nerves and went on a fantastic run in the middle portion of the match before knocking the ninth-seeded White out in a decider.

Kevin Painter and Steve Beaton also booked their spot in the next round, while Simon Whitlock was another high-profile player to exit the tournament on Saturday.

Here's a look at the full results.

Afternoon Session
Evening Session
Kim Viljanen	2-1	Sven Groen (P)
Steve Beaton	3-0	Koha Kokiri
Ian White	1-3	Dimitri Van den Bergh
Kevin Painter	3-0	Kim Viljanen
Keita Ono	2-0	Alex Tagarao (P)
Simon Whitlock	2-3	Ricky Evans
Vincent van der Voort	3-0	Laurence Ryder
Phil Taylor	3-0	Keita Ono

All stats are courtesy of PDC.tv.

Recap

The Power made the surprising decision to switch to new darts just hours before the start of his match against Ono, and per PDC Darts, the new setup was significantly lighter:

While the Power easily won the first set 3-1, his average was nothing special, sitting well under 90. His doubles looked solid, but his usual, explosive scoring was lacking.

Taylor looked far better in the second set, however, increasing his average to 94 and winning every leg. By the third, he looked like the Power of old, even taking a massive 167 checkout at one point. Taylor finished with an average just under triple-digits and 60 percent on his doubles, strong numbers that highlight his obvious quality.

Whitlock gave up a two-set advantage to lose to Evans in a tie-break, a disappointing result for the talented but inconsistent Australian.

But while the Wizard will have left the Ally Pally in sombre spirits, the fans most certainly did not. The two served up a fantastic match of darts and an early highlight of this year's World Championship. PDC Darts loved the action that went down between the two:

Whitlock cruised to an early lead, hitting 180 twice in the first set and comfortably winning 3-1, and while Evans showed signs of life in the second, the experienced Whitlock kept his composure even after missing a fantastic 170 checkout, taking a 2-0 lead on double two.

He moved to within a single leg of the next round by winning the first two of the third set, before Evans turned things around. His first 180 of the match gave him the confidence he needed to win three legs in a row, with Whitlock missing two match darts.

Rapid proceeded to sweep the fourth set and set up a decider, to the delight of fans and pundits alike. James Dart of the Guardian urged all of his followers to tune in immediately:

The final set saw plenty of drama, with the two splitting the first eight legs before Evans took the lead. Whitlock returned with a fantastic 12-darter, but Evans again took the lead and finally sealed the deal with a 130 checkout.

As shared by BetVictor, Rapid's brilliance on the doubles made the difference:

Vincent van der Voort cruised to an easy win over Laurence Ryder, who manage to win just two legs against the Dutchman. Van der Voort has been in remarkably good form all year long, and he could be one of the players to avoid in the latter rounds.

Elsewhere, White and Van den Bergh served up a high-level contest, with the underdog eventually pulling off an impressive 3-1 win.

White came out firing early, hitting two 180s in the first two legs to grab the lead, but the young Van den Bergh hit back with finishes of 122 and 107. A 177 start to the decider had the Belgian in pole position, but he showed his inexperience, missing four doubles to allow White to grab the set by taking out double five.

Van den Bergh immediately hit back with a 72 finish to set up a strong run, and he continued his form into the third set, with back-to-back finishes of 112 and 103. Meanwhile, PDC Darts shared this short clip:

Another 103 checkout put the Belgian within one set of the first upset of the day, and while White managed to pull himself together a bit in the third, Van den Bergh completed the upset in the decider.

Painter had it easy against Kim Viljanen, turning a fast start into a two-set lead and coasting to the win from there. Viljanen had qualified for the first round by beating Sven Groen 2-1 in the preliminary round.

Beaton cruised to a 3-0 win over Koha Kokiri, showing his composure by winning deciders in the first and third set. The Bronzed Adonis averaged just under 96 and looked very solid on the doubles, taking full advantage of Kokiri's struggles on the checkout.

As shared by PDC Darts, Beaton gave Kokiri full credit for giving him a challenge:

The action will continue on Sunday, with top contenders like Raymond van Barneveld and Mervyn King playing their first-round matches.