Rob Cross put a horrible couple of months behind him on Friday, winning his opening match at the World Darts Championship.
The 2018 debutant champion has been on a poor run of form, losing his last five matches going back to Oct. 15.
But Cross has happy memories of the Alexandra Palace stage and did not need to be at his best to get past Cor Dekker, 3-0.
That will boost his confidence going into the second round after dropping only two legs and sealing victory with a 170 checkout.
Ian White won the battle of the veterans as he beat Mervyn King 3-2.
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Both men are over 50 and it was 'Diamond' who came out shining in a contest that went all the way, with White claiming he was "knackered".
The opening match did little to support the PDC's decision to expand the tournament to 128 players as Niels Zonneveld and Haupai Puha were involved in an hour-long slug fest.
The Ally Pally crowd did not need much invitation to be distracted as Zonneveld won a low quality affair 3-0.
Ryan Searle made light work out of Chris Landman, winning 3-0.