Luke Humphries started his world title defense with a dominant 3-0 victory over Thibault Tricole on the opening night.
The world number one averaged 90.79 as he cleared all nine stages in the second round of the PDC World Championships at Alexandra Palace in London.
“It wasn’t my best result, but they are two different tournaments, the only thing that matters is today’s victory,” he said.
“Even if I don’t win again, I will be proud of the past year. It would be a beautiful culmination if I could become back-to-back world champions. But I have five games to go. “
Tricole, who was the first Frenchman to play in last year’s tournament, had earlier defeated Australian qualifier Joe Comito 3-1 in the opening match.
The tournament began amid high expectations following a surge in the popularity of the game of darts after teenager Luke Littler reached the 2024 finals in January, where defeated 7-4 by Humphries.
Englishman Humphries, 29, has had a great year and will return after the Christmas break, with 2007 PDC world champion Raymond van Barneveld waiting in the third round if the Dutchman makes progress.
As well as winning the World Championship, Humphries lifted his maiden World Darts and World Matchplay titles before retaining his crown in the Players Championship finals in Minehead last month.
