Anderson into last16aslim comesclose to nine-darter

Scotland’s Gary Anderson reached the last 16 at the PDC World Championship last night with a 4-1 second round win over Paul Lim at Alexandra Palace.

The two-time champion never found top gear but was always comfortable as he booked a meeting with Steve West or Jermaine Wattimena.

Anderson advanced but it was Lim who had the crowd on their feet as he came so close to adding to his historic first World Championship nine-darter in 1990.

Lim just missed double 12 and a unique slice of history 28 years after doing the same thing with his original nine-darter.

Anderson admitted he was willing his opponent to land the double.

He said: “If Paul had got the ninedarter it would have been the best Christmas present ever.

“For Paul to come from the BDO hitting the nine-darter to doing it on this stage would’ve been brilliant. I thought it was in, when he hit the trebles I thought he’s going to hit this.”

Another Scot, Robert Thornton, bowed out to Austrian fifth seed Mensur Suljovic, losing 4-2.

Vincent Van Der Voort romped to a 4-0 win over Steve Beaton, while World youth champion Dimitri Van Den Bergh beat Jan Dekker 4-2 and Gerwyn Price saw off Ian White 4-1.

In the final game of the night, world No 1 Michael van Gerwen continued his title defence with a comfortable 4-0 win over England’s James Wilson.

Gary Anderson eased past Paul Lim to book a place in the last 16.