Sydney Darts Masters 2016: Results, Scores and Updated Schedule After Thursday

The 2016 Sydney Darts Masters got up and running with a tense opening on Thursday, where defending champion Phil Taylor defeated Australian youngster Corey Cadby to get off to a soaring start at The Star.

It was a bright opening day for the European visitors in general, too, as top seed Michael van Gerwen, Adrian Lewis, Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright each defeated Australian opponents to make the quarter-finals.

Top seed Gary Anderson was the only European contender to face a fellow continental in the shape of Englishman David Platt, whom he defeated 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash opposite Taylor.

Kyle Anderson and Ryan Mathewson were the only native talents to progress past the first round at The Star, beating Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade, respectively, to book their spots in the last eight.

Here's a look at Thursday's scores, courtesy of the competition's official Twitter account:

And here's the fixture schedule for Friday's quarter-finals:

Time	Player 1	VS.	Player 2
11 a.m. BST/6 a.m. ET	Gary Anderson	vs.	Phil Taylor
11 a.m. BST/6 a.m. ET	Adrian Lewis	vs.	Dave Chisnall
11 a.m. BST/6 a.m. ET	Michael van Gerwen	vs.	Kyle Anderson
11 a.m. BST/6 a.m. ET	Ryan Mathewson	vs.	Peter Wright

Recap

Three-time champion Taylor ensured his defence of the Sydney Darts Masters crown got off on the right foot on Thursday after bookending his opener against Cadby with two two-leg streaks to see out a 6-3 victory.

Cadby, 21, is a promising prospect on the Australian circuit, and the figures, provided courtesy of Sportradar Live, showed the home favourite wasn't far from his opponent in terms of his three-dart average:

Taylor's reward for the victory is a daunting encounter with No. 1 seed Anderson, who toughed out a rocky back-and-forth with England's Platt before finishing with three legs in succession to claim a 6-3 win.

The Scot scorched into a 2-0 lead against Platt but was hauled back level at 3-3 before finding his groove right when it counted, taking out 20 on double five to advance past the first round.

Compatriot Wright also blazed a trail into the quarters after demolishing Simon Whitlock 6-2 in Thursday's opener, and the Australian was fortunate to avoid a total shutout after trailing 5-0 at one point.

Luckily, there was some joy for the Aussies, however, after Kyle Anderson left his mark on the European contingent with a convincing victory against Van Barneveld in the first round:

Mathewson was the other home star to make his way into the quarters thanks to a nail-biting 6-5 victory against Wade, despite averaging just 84.49 while his foe averaged 88.53, per the official PDC website.

While that result was something of a shock, the same couldn't be said of second seed Van Gerwen after he defeated Cody Harris 6-2 at The Star, which included a ferocious start to the competition:

The Dutchman notched four maximums en route to his win and completed six of his 11 finishing opportunities, not to mention recording an average of 107.89, the highest of any player on Thursday.

Lewis couldn't match those figures, but his win over Rob Szabo was still an impressive one, sailing into a three-leg lead without reply before ending any hopes of a comeback with three wins in the last four legs.

Chisnall's victory over Australian youngster Harley Kemp, 22, was even more convincing, rallying from a leg down to win six of his own in succession, hitting tops in the last five of those legs in what became an odd trend.