Sunday 28 December 2014 11:20, UK
Gary Anderson won an Alexandra Palace classic against Jelle Klaasen as Benito van de Pas upset Dave Chisnall and defending PDC world champion Michael van Gerwen avoided a shock upset.
The Flying Scotsman - runner-up to Adrian Lewis in the 2011 final - seemed to be on the brink of exiting the tournament at the at Alexandra Palace but fought back from 3-1 down to claim a famous victory.
Meanwhile, Dutchman Benito van de Pas claimed a stunning 4-2 victory over eighth seed Dave Chisnall to line up a meeting with Robert Thornton while Van Gerwen came from a set down to defeat Sascha Stein 4-1.
Anderson looked to be heading out to the 2006 BDO World champion before he produced a remarkable comeback to win through to the last 16.
The Borders thrower averaged 103.02, hitting 33 ton pluses, 18 140s and 14 180s on his way to a meeting against Kevin Painter or Cristo Reyes in the next round.
"When I was three-one down I was done, that was me," he told Sky Sports Darts. "I had to relax otherwise I was out. I started enjoying it and having a laugh.
"My average is not good enough, it should be about 108 plus. Jelle battered me off the board in the first three sets but then he started to slow down which suited me. This year I've got my head right."
Eighth seed Dave Chisnall bowed out to Van de Pas, who had already shocked No 25 seed Paul Nicholson in the first round, and added the St Helens thrower to his list.
Chisnall took a 2-1 lead, but the 21-year-old Dutchman came back to pull away and set up a showdown against ninth seed Robert Thornton.
"I'm over the moon," said Van de Pas. "It was the best win of my career. I've played well all year and this it what I've deserved. I'm so confident now. I'm happy I'm bringing my floor game to the stage now."
Thornton made it through to the third round for the fifth time with a 4-0 defeat of Ronnie Baxter with an average of 93.78 as he managed to miss 27 doubles but still make it through without dropping a set.
Van Gerwen was far from his fluent best as he fell behind against the unfancied German opponent before fighting back to progress to the last 16 where he will face Terry Jenkins.
The Dutchman grew into the match - which he finished with eight 180s and an average just under 100 - and despite Stein's consistency, found his flow to move 3-1 ahead.
Stein pushed him all the way in the fifth set and forced his opponent to throw for the match at 2-2, but Van Gerwen was up to the test and closed out the tie.
"He played well to be fair, Van Gerwen said. "He was a qualifier and for a qualifier he did really well this tournament. In the first two sets against me he did really good and put me under pressure. In the end I knew I was going to win the game so you need to sort your game out and make sure you get over the line.
"All credit to Sascha, he played really well."
Van Gerwen admitted he felt under pressure and victory was by no means a certainty in the early stages.
He said: "I was 1-0 down and I was 2-0 up (in legs) and at 2-2 he missed three darts to break my throw.
"You never know what's going to happen. It was a really difficult game as everyone expected me to beat him easy and that put the pressure on and made it difficult. I will be ready for my next game.
"I'm not playing again for the next few days so I need to make sure I'm as good as possible for the next one. That's going to be Terry and I need to do something good as the last two times I lost against him and on this stage I don't want to get beaten by him."
Earlier, Jenkins had booked his place in the next round after he won 12 legs without reply and narrowly missed a nine-dart finish as he eased to a 4-0 win over Laurence Ryder.
"It was close wasn't it?" Jenkins said of his nine-dart effort. "I looked at it first and thought it might have gone in, but it was close.
"After hitting a nine-darter here last year I really thought I could do it again, so I wasn't scared as I lined up the 141 - I was expecting to hit it."
Meanwhile, Peter Wright, who was defeated in the final by Van Gerwen last year,claimed a 4-1 win over Ronny Huybrechts.
Wright will now face either Andy Hamilton or Kyle Anderson on Tuesday.
