PDC World Darts: Fermanagh's Brendan Dolan books second-round spot

Brendan Dolan has never been beyond the second round at the PDC World Championship

Fermanagh man Brendan Dolan produced an impressive performance to beat Dutchman Christian Kist 3-1 in the first round at the PDC World Championship.

Dolan, 43, won nine of the 13 legs as he finished with an average of 95.123 and a checkout percentage of 56.

World number 23 Dolan took the opening set 3-0 at Alexandra Palace as he won two legs against the darts.

Former BDO world champion Kist, 30, won the second set 3-0 but Belcoo man Dolan quickly regained control.

Kist, who won at Lakeside in 2012, looked in control after taking a big lead in the first leg but missed three darts on double 12 which allowed Dolan to pinch the opener.

After Dolan went on to quickly wrap up the set, Kist looked to be in the groove as he whitewashed the Northern Irishman in set two, but a 180 in the opening leg of the third saw Dolan wrest back the initiative.

Dolan took the third set 3-0 and while Kist's last-ditch dart on double one saw him level at 1-1 all in the fourth, the Fermanagh man won the next two legs to set up a second-round meeting on 28 December with the winner of the all-Dutch first-round encounter between Jelle Klaasen or Jeffrey de Graff.

The Northern Irishman has never been beyond the second round in his nine appearances at the PDC World Championship but he was delighted with his performance on Tuesday night.

"I struggled quite a bit for 18 months but my around October or November my game started to improve," said Dolan.

Dolan is the second Northern Ireland player into the second-round draw after Londonderry man Daryl Gurney defeated Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena 3-1 on Sunday.

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