Lim, 71, becomes oldest winner at World Championship

Key Highlights

• I never give up.
• He is good but he can be beaten."The crowd roared on Lim, who is 72 next month, when he won the first set against De Graaf befofe his opponent levelled the match. Lim went ahead again after a scrappy third set as De Graaf wilted while the experienced 'Singapore Slinger' held his nerve in a tense fourth, sealing victory with an average of 86.52. Five-time world championship semi-finalist Wayne Mardle said Lim was able to "take his chances" against De Graaf to secure an "incredible" win."If you have the desire, the passion but most of all the ability humans can achieve amazing things - and that was amazing," said Mardle on Sky. De Graaf was six years old when Lim made his PDC debut 29 years ago. Elsewhere, Wessel Nijman of the Netherlands eased to a 3-0 win over Czech Karel Sedlacek while Germany's Gabriel Clemens beat American Alex Spellman by the same scoreline. World Darts Championship 2026 schedule and resultsPublished58 minutes agoWorld Darts Championship - Draw, seeds, prize moneyPublished53 minutes agoVan Veen advances but Smith suffers shock exitPublished1 day agoAnderson survives scareImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Gary Anderson won the PDC World Championship in 2015 and 2016In the afternoon session, Gary Anderson booked his place in the second round with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Adam Hunt. Two-time champion Anderson, 54, was given a stern examination by world number 84 Hunt but the Flying Scotsman was able to battle back from 2-1 down to progress. Anderson, seeded 14th, will next play the winner of the match between Connor Scutt and Simon Whitlock ."That's probably the best Adam has played all season.
• The first game is the hardest, but I'm through," Anderson told Sky Sports. Anderson, who won back-to-back world titles in 2015 and 2016, held his nerve to win the first set 3-2 against the 32-year-old Englishman. However, he missed double top in the deciding leg in the second set and Hunt took his chance to level the match up with a confident 72 checkout.
• Hunt won the third set as Anderson's average plummeted but the Scot raised his game in the fourth and took control early in the decider as Hunt failed to recover from an early break of throw. Elsewhere, Welsh amateur David Davies secured a dream tie with defending champion Luke Littler in the next round after causing a minor upset on his World Championship debut. Davies claimed a 3-0 win over Belgium's.