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

Defending champion Gary Anderson was pushed hard during Saturday's 2015-16 PDC William Hill World Darts Championship action, beating Daryl Gurney 4-1 in a match that was far more competitive than the final score suggests.

Gurney missed set darts in the second and third set and paid dearly, as the Flying Scotsman took full advantage to twice battle out of tricky situations.

Dave Chisnall and Jamie Caven both progressed to the next round in comfortable fashion, beating Christian Kist and Ricky Evans, respectively. Here's a look at Saturday's results:

Rickey Evans	0-4	Jamie Caven
Dave Chisnall	4-1	Christian Kist
Gary Anderson	4-1	Daryl Gurney

All statistics are courtesy of PDC.tv.

Recap

The Flying Scotsman started the match with seven perfect darts before taking the first leg with an 11-darter, but Gurney was not impressed, taking the lead with a 54 checkout. Anderson answered with a 100 checkout of his own, but in the decider, Gurney kept his nerves to take out 85 and grab a shock lead. 

PDC Darts wondered whether he could keep it up:

Those questions were immediately answered when he took out 139 for a break, but the defending champion responded with a massive 170 checkout to level things. Gurney nearly had a 170 of his own and forced another decider by finding double eight, only to miss a set dart. Anderson gladly took the gift and tied things up at 1-1.

The two kept trading shots in the third set, which went to another decider, and once again, Gurney failed on the doubles when it mattered the most, missing four set darts and all but handing the Flying Scotsman the lead.

Sky Sports Boxing's Spencer Oliver was loving the action:

But Anderson started to assert his dominance in the fourth set, punishing every mistake Gurney made. Another seven perfect darts helped him close out the set in a hurry, avoiding a decider for the first time. 

Anderson started the fifth set with a ton out, but so did Gurney, who refused to go quietly. The 29-year-old kept fighting until the very end, but ultimately, Anderson's scoring proved too much to handle, and he bowed out of the tournament in four sets.

Chisnall looked very solid in his 4-1 win over Kist, averaging nearly 103 to underline his tremendous form as he heads for the final 16. Kist actually played a solid match, averaging close to 96, but Chizzy's raw scoring was just superb on Saturday, and he couldn't be contained.

Sportsmedia's Sam Ellard was impressed:

Chizzy hit no less than 12 180s and made it clear he was in fine form in the opening leg, taking out 104 to draw first blood. Kist kept up with his experienced opponent to force a decider and could have stolen the set, but a miss on the bull allowed Chisnall to step in and take out tops.

The second set played out in similar fashion, with Chizzy again taking the decider before really switching gears and sweeping the third.

Kist played his best darts in the fourth set, even landing an 11-darter at one point, and per Sky Sports, the fans got to witness a high-class showing:

The Dutchman took out 68 to finally win his first set and keep his hopes of an upset alive, but in the very next set, Chisnall won three legs in a row for another sweep, booking his ticket for the next round in the process.

In the first match of the night, Caven cruised past Evans in a whitewash. Evans simply couldn't keep up with Jabba's scoring and only won a single leg in the entire match, converting one of his five doubles.

PDC Darts shared the end of the final leg:

Caven hit two 180s and averaged just under 92, which are solid, if unspectacular numbers. But Evans' average sat under 83, and he never managed to string together four of five good darts, putting him on the back foot throughout the match.

Speaking to PDC Darts, Caven expressed his delight at making the final 16 for the first time:

Jabba will have to improve his average to make a deep run into the tournament, as the top players remaining all routinely finish with averages of 95 or more. But if he continues his fine work on the doubles, there's no reason to believe he can't advance to the quarter-finals, or even better.  

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