Former champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson booked their third-round spots at the World Darts Championship, as sixth seed Danny Noppert crashed out in a final-leg epic at the Alexandra Palace.
Van Gerwen was a shadow of his best in his tournament opener against Mitsuhiko Tatsunami but showed a vast improvement against William O'Connor, posting a 100.20 average in a 3-1 win over the Irishman at the Alexandra Palace.
The former world No 1 won his first two sets and responded to O'Connor winning the third by starting the next with back-to-back ton-plus finishes, then closed out victory to set up a third-round meeting against German debutant Arno Merk.
Fellow Dutchman Noppert became the highest-ranked player to be knocked out of this year's event, suffering a second-round exit - for the third consecutive year - after being edged out by England's Justin Hood in a sudden-death leg.
Anderson recovered from a set down to claim a 3-1 victory over Connor Scutt, while 11th seed Josh Rock breezed through the final match before the Christmas break by thrashing Australia's Joe Comito in straight sets.
Van Gerwen finished runner-up to Luke Littler last year and has reached three finals since last lifting the world title in 2019, with the Dutchman looking to bounce back from a disappointing season by winning the Sid Waddell Trophy for a fourth time.
He survived set darts in a slow start before rallying to pinch the opening set, following a 12-dart break by taking out an 89 finish, then raced through the second in straight legs to take control.
O'Connor raised hopes of a comeback after taking out a 98 finish and then breaking Van Gerwen the following leg to win the set, although they were quickly squashed when Van Gerwen followed a 121 finish to hold by taking out a 127 checkout on the bullseye en route to victory.
"I think I played well," Van Gerwen said after his victory. "I was sharp, I was ready today and I think that's what you want you want to show to yourself and to everyone else - that you're capable of doing more.
"I put a lot of effort in this match and I think from here on, I can do some more damage. I think everything went well, everything came in place, but of course there was still room for improvement."
The opening match of the evening saw Hood come through a tight opening set, where every leg was completed in 15 darts or leg, then fire seven perfect darts in a leg on his way to doubling his lead over the Dutchman.
The Englishman missed a match dart on bullseye to claim a straight-sets victory and saw Noppert fight back to win the next two to take the match to a decider, where Hood survived a match dart of his own as the contest dragged into extra legs.
Noppert fired a 157 to extend the match after surviving a third match dart and nailed a 127 checkout on the bullseye to force sudden death, where Hood held throw to complete a remarkable victory and book a third-round meeting with Ryan Meikle.
"That was a good game, I knew it would be!" Hood told Your Site. "He [Noppert] is a class player. I gave him a chance and they took it, but I won and that's all that matters."
Anderson looked in danger of becoming another high-profile exit after losing the first set against Scutt, where he struggled on the outer ring, only to show vast improvement in his comeback win.
The two-time world champion produced nine 180s and fired a 105.41 average - the second-highest of the tournament - during an impressive performance, which he completed with a 90 checkout on the bullseye.
"The doubles were a bit iffy at the start," said Anderson, who faces Jermaine Wattimena in the third round. "The scoring kept going and doubles went in at the end. It's alright! We are getting there. It's not quite together yet."
17 of the 32 seeds have exited before Christmas, but Rock avoided joining that list by dropping just two legs and posting a 101.33 average in his 3-0 win over Comito.
Two-time champion Peter Wright was sent tumbling by Merk in the final match of the afternoon session, losing in straight sets and winning just two legs in a one-sided contest where he averaged under 80.
All three other matches went to final-set deciders, with Suffolk's Ryan Meikle coming back from two sets to beat Jonny Tata 3-2 and Wattimena averaging 96 and hitting five 180s in a victory against Scott Williams by the same margin.
A late burst in the final set saw Callan Rydz defeat Daryl Gurney 3-2 in another Ally Pally thriller, where Rydz fired in eight maximums and two 167 checkouts to secure a third-round meeting against Rock.
There are three days off for the World Darts Championship over the Christmas period before the tournament resumes on this weekend on Saturday with a double session at 12.30pm and 7pm to kick off the third round.
The third-round schedule will be confirmed on Wednesday.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live until January 3 on Your Site' dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407). .
