Gary Anderson: 'I was nervous during first-round win at World Championship'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 16 December 2016

Defending champion Gary Anderson says that he had nerves going into his first-round clash with Mark Frost at the World Championship.

Gary Anderson has admitted that there was a feeling of relief after progressing through his first-round clash with Mark Frost at the World Championship.

The reigning champion dropped just two legs on the way to a 3-0 success over the PDPA qualifier, but he has revealed that he was nervous as he started the defence of his world title.

The 45-year-old is quoted by PDC.tv as saying: "It was nerve-wracking up there, the first round always is. Mark's a cracking player and he never showed how he can play tonight but I scraped through and did the job I came to do.

"I've not been thinking about anything further than the first round. I can only try my best and if that's good enough then maybe I'll be joining that exclusive club in January."

In the other matches on Thursday night, Michael Smith edged a 3-2 thriller with Ricky Evans, Jamie Lewis outlasted Mick McGowan by the same scoreline, while Kevin Painter registered a 3-1 victory over Jamie Caven.