PDC World Championship - Match Report 2. Day
CLASSY WRIGHT DISPLAYS WILLIAM HILL WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP CREDENTIALS
PETER WRIGHT laid down a marker at the William Hill World Darts Championship with a straight sets victory against Jerry Hendriks at Alexandra Palace, while Steve Beaton and debutant Jonny Clayton also triumphed on Friday.
Number three seed Wright was the first player to average over 100 in this year's tournament as he came out on top in an entertaining encounter against Dutch opponent Hendriks, who had earlier seen off New Zealand's Warren Parry in their preliminary round match.
The colourful Scotsman followed the entertaining walk-on routines with an excellent performance, in which he produced fantastic finishes of 131 and 141. Hendriks took out a 156 finish to win one of his two legs, but saw the second set slip from his grasp as the 2014 finalist progressed in style.
"I needed to pull out the big finishes to keep him quiet," said Wright, who will return after Christmas to take on Jamie Lewis in the second round.
"He was fantastic. I watched his match earlier and he played really well and enjoyed himself so I was happy to get the win. It could be my year. You never know how it's going to go but I think that if I don't win it this year I will win it next year."
Former Lakeside Champion Beaton also progressed comfortably, defeating South Africa's Devon Petersen by three sets to one.
The highlight of Beaton's victory was an eye-catching bullseye finish to complete a 124 combination as he moved into the last 32.
"I was doing really well and then I switched off a bit so I was pleased to finish the job," said Beaton, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay earlier this year. "I'd love to have a run here like I did in Blackpool. I've never really had a good year at Ally Pally so I'd love to have one this year. The crowd really get behind me and to give them something back would be fantastic."
Clayton enjoyed victory in his first World Championship appearance at the expense of his Welsh compatriot Gerwyn Price.
The 42-year-old, who is in just his second year as a professional, came from a set behind to beat number 19 seed Price 3-1.
"This is the greatest moment of my career so far," said Clayton, who produced checkouts of 116 and 120. "I hope it goes on because I really enjoyed it. It was hard against one of my mates but I'm chuffed to bits and looking forward to the next round."