Adrian Lewis snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Kevin Painter on a dramatic opening night of the Sky Bet Mobile World Matchplay.
"I was expecting a 10-4 or a 10-5 win and it just didn't happen."
Adrian Lewis The world champion had his darts in his pocket when Painter led 9-6 in the best-of-19 contest and had three arrows in his hand to take out 40.
However, they were to be the first of six darts 'The Artist' missed for the match, as Lewis eventually won through 14-12.
After Lewis took the first leg, Painter stormed into a 4-1 advantage and looked to be well on course for a place in the second round.
When he converted that lead to 9-6 and stood on the brink of victory Lewis had all but conceded defeat - but he dug deep into his reserves of mental strength and won three successive legs to force Painter into 'extra time'.
After Lewis pulled ahead for the first time since the opening leg, Painter won back-to-back legs himself to go 11-10 up but then squandered three more match darts before 'Jackpot' levelled it back up at 11-11.
Lewis missed a bull for the match in leg 24 but when his chance came two legs later he needed no second invitation to snatch the win.
He told Sky Sports: "I thought Kevin was absolutely fantastic. I'd put my darts away but as soon as I got my chance I thought 'hit this now' and I knew he'd be thinking about it.
"I was expecting a 10-4 or a 10-5 win and it just didn't happen."
Lewis now meets Vincent van der Voort after his 10-7 victory over Alan Tabern.
The fast-throwing Dutchman looked to be cruising to victory when he took an 8-4 lead but he rather staggered over the line ultimately.
Van der Voort said: "I didnt play well but I won. Normally I lose those matches so that's good.
"The crowd was almost all for me and it made me really nervous!"
Terry Jenkins went crashing out as Steve Beaton turned on the style on the opening night.
The 1996 world champion served up something of a surprise in the tournament's first match as he sent two-time finalist Jenkins packing 10-3.
Beaton had only won three games in Blackpool since reaching the semi-finals here in 2001, but averaged over 100 in beating the seventh seed.
In a topsy-turvy start, Beaton moved into a 3-0 lead before allowing Jenkins to level matters - but thereafter it was one-way traffic as 'The Adonis' put together seven straight legs to book his place in the second round.
Beaton had only won three games in Blackpool since reaching the semi-finals here in 2001, but averaged over 100 in beating the seventh seed.
In a topsy-turvy start, Beaton moved into a 3-0 lead before allowing Jenkins to level matters - but thereafter it was one-way traffic as 'The Adonis' put together seven straight legs to book his place in the second round.
Beaton's reward is a clash with Mark Webster, who beat John Part despite the Canadian firing in a nine-darter.
The Canadian hit 180, 180 and 141 in the 11th leg to cut his deficit to 7-4 and become just the third player to hit a perfect leg at the event.
The nine-darter came in the midst of a valiant comeback as Part, who had trailed 7-1 at one point, recovered to get within a leg of Webster at 8-7.
But Webster, who averaged 88.95 to Part's 90.75, held his nerve to win
"I was expecting a 10-4 or a 10-5 win and it just didn't happen."
Adrian Lewis The world champion had his darts in his pocket when Painter led 9-6 in the best-of-19 contest and had three arrows in his hand to take out 40.
However, they were to be the first of six darts 'The Artist' missed for the match, as Lewis eventually won through 14-12.
After Lewis took the first leg, Painter stormed into a 4-1 advantage and looked to be well on course for a place in the second round.
When he converted that lead to 9-6 and stood on the brink of victory Lewis had all but conceded defeat - but he dug deep into his reserves of mental strength and won three successive legs to force Painter into 'extra time'.
After Lewis pulled ahead for the first time since the opening leg, Painter won back-to-back legs himself to go 11-10 up but then squandered three more match darts before 'Jackpot' levelled it back up at 11-11.
Lewis missed a bull for the match in leg 24 but when his chance came two legs later he needed no second invitation to snatch the win.
He told Sky Sports: "I thought Kevin was absolutely fantastic. I'd put my darts away but as soon as I got my chance I thought 'hit this now' and I knew he'd be thinking about it.
"I was expecting a 10-4 or a 10-5 win and it just didn't happen."
Lewis now meets Vincent van der Voort after his 10-7 victory over Alan Tabern.
The fast-throwing Dutchman looked to be cruising to victory when he took an 8-4 lead but he rather staggered over the line ultimately.
Van der Voort said: "I didnt play well but I won. Normally I lose those matches so that's good.
"The crowd was almost all for me and it made me really nervous!"
Terry Jenkins went crashing out as Steve Beaton turned on the style on the opening night.
The 1996 world champion served up something of a surprise in the tournament's first match as he sent two-time finalist Jenkins packing 10-3.
Beaton had only won three games in Blackpool since reaching the semi-finals here in 2001, but averaged over 100 in beating the seventh seed.
In a topsy-turvy start, Beaton moved into a 3-0 lead before allowing Jenkins to level matters - but thereafter it was one-way traffic as 'The Adonis' put together seven straight legs to book his place in the second round.
Beaton had only won three games in Blackpool since reaching the semi-finals here in 2001, but averaged over 100 in beating the seventh seed.
In a topsy-turvy start, Beaton moved into a 3-0 lead before allowing Jenkins to level matters - but thereafter it was one-way traffic as 'The Adonis' put together seven straight legs to book his place in the second round.
Beaton's reward is a clash with Mark Webster, who beat John Part despite the Canadian firing in a nine-darter.
The Canadian hit 180, 180 and 141 in the 11th leg to cut his deficit to 7-4 and become just the third player to hit a perfect leg at the event.
The nine-darter came in the midst of a valiant comeback as Part, who had trailed 7-1 at one point, recovered to get within a leg of Webster at 8-7.
But Webster, who averaged 88.95 to Part's 90.75, held his nerve to win
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