Luke Humphries kicked off his world title defence with a dominant 3-0 win over Thibault Tricole on the opening night.
The world number one coasted along with an average of 90.79 as he took all nine legs in the second round of the PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace in London.
“It was nowhere near my best, but it is two different tournaments, all that matters is to win tonight,” he said.
“Even if I don’t win again I will be proud of the year I have. It would be a beautiful way to top it off if I could become back-to-back world champion. But I have five games to get through.”
Tricole, who was the first Frenchman to play in the tournament last year, had earlier defeated Australian qualifier Joe Comito 3-1 in the opening match.
The tournament began amid high anticipation after a surge in darts’ popularity following teenager Luke Littler’s run to the 2024 final in January, where he was beaten 7-4 by Humphries.
Englishman Humphries, 29, has enjoyed a brilliant year and he will return after the Christmas break where 2007 PDC world champion Raymond van Barneveld could await in the third round if the Dutch player progresses.
As well as his world championship win, Humphries lifted his maiden World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay titles, before retaining his Players Championship Finals crown in Minehead last month.
