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PDC World Darts: Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor safely through a dramatic first round

Image: Phil Taylor: Cruised into the second round

The PDC's top players served up plenty of drama during the first round of the World Darts Championship.

Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor stayed on course for a potential meeting in the final, but a host of seeds have already bowed out at Alexandra Palace.

Defending champion Van Gerwen endured a scare during his 3-1 victory over Joe Cullen and will be hoping to raise his standards in a second-round meeting with Sascha Stein.

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Phil 'The Power' Taylor averaged over 100 as he defeated Jyhan Artut

Taylor, the pre-tournament favourite, had no such problems during a ruthless 3-0 win over German Jyhan Artut.

Targeting a 17th title, the Stoke thrower made serene progress with an average of over 100 to book a clash with Mark Webster.

Last year’s beaten finalist Peter Wright also recaptured his Ally Pally form in a 3-0 win over Gerwyn Price, while big names James Wade and Adrian Lewis joined him in the next stage.

Former winner Raymond van Barneveld showed glimpses of his best finishing in a routine victory over Rowby-John Rodriguez and genuine contenders such as Gary Anderson and Dave Chisnall are also safely through.

More from Darts World Championship 2015

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Wayne Mardle wonders what happened after an uncharacteristic performance by Simon Whitlock

But there were a string of shock exits in the capital, with seventh seed Simon Whitlock the most notable early casualty.

The Australian reached last year’s semi-finals, but this time was sent packing thanks to a 3-1 defeat to Darren Webster.

Mervyn King was another seed to fall at the first hurdle, with German teenager Max Hopp inflicting a shock 3-2 loss on the Suffolk man, who was nursing a bad back.

Wes Newton, Justin Pipe, Steve Beaton, Paul Nicholson and John Part were also eliminated during the opening matches.

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Max Hopp took out 161 to defeat Mervyn King in the first round

Keegan Brown, the reigning world youth champion, bolstered his growing reputation by brushing aside Part.

Hopp’s thrilling victory ensured he will be a name to follow, while qualifier Cristo Reyes and Dutchman Benito van de Pas announced themselves with wins over Newton and Nicholson.

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