JAMIE LEWIS stole the show on night one of the 2018 bwin World Series of Darts Finals in Vienna with his highest televised average in a 6-2 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh.
Friday's opening round at the Multiversum saw World Championship semi-finalist Lewis produce the performance of the evening with a 109.8 average in his triumph over German Darts Masters runner-up Van den Bergh.
A clinical display of finishing from the Welshman saw him hit six of his seven attempts at double and he will now take on World Champion Rob Cross in Saturday's second round when the eight seeded players enter the competition.
"I'm over the moon with that performance, I haven't had a great year but I felt that was coming," said Lewis, who competed in the German Darts Masters this year.
"I lost my grandfather last week, it's been a really hard week but I knew I was going to come out here and do well for him tonight.
"In my head I was thinking 'I don't want to let him down' and thankfully I performed well for him tonight, so I'm chuffed with that."
Night one of the £250,000 event also saw former Auckland Darts Master Kyle Anderson take out three ton-plus checkouts in a 6-4 win over Ian White.
A star of 15 World Series events, Anderson came through the high-quality affair with a 101.4 average and will now take on Shanghai Darts Masters winner Michael Smith.
"I'm finally enjoying my darts again, I'm back in form and I had to be to beat Ian tonight," said Anderson.
"I've decided to slow my game down, which is actually how I used to play before I sped up and it's working well for me so far."
It was a hat-trick of wins for Australian players as Raymond Smith and Damon Heta also progressed to the second day of action in Austria.
Smith, leader of the DartPlayers Australia Order of Merit, eased past former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown 6-3 thanks to a string of impressive finishes to set up a clash with Raymond van Barneveld.
Meanwhile, world number one Michael van Gerwen will face Heta after the Melbourne Darts Masters quarter-finalist held his nerve to see off Maik Langendorf 6-5.
German number one Max Hopp was a late-notice replacement for Canadian youngster Dawson Murschell, who was forced to withdraw through illness, but his trip to Vienna proved short-lived as he went down 6-1 to Dave Chisnall.
World number ten Chisnall proved too strong for Hopp, landing three ton-plus finishes and averaging 102.9 to ensure he will face US Darts Masters champion Gary Anderson.
World number five Daryl Gurney secured an impressive whitewash 6-0 win over Steve Beaton, averaging 104 to set up a replay of the 2017 World Grand Prix final against Simon Whitlock.
Newly-crowned European Champion James Wade will play Austrian crowd favourite Mensur Suljovic after seeing off Ross Smith 6-3, while Gerwyn Price will take on top seed Peter Wright after cruising past Hong Kong's Royden Lam 6-1.
Saturday's second night of the tournament will see the eight seeded players enter at the second round stage to take on Friday's eight winners.
The bwin World Series of Darts Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners, as well as through PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers.
2018 bwin World Series of Darts Finals
Schedule of Play
Friday November 2 (2000 Local Time 1900 UK Time)
First Round x8
Raymond Smith 6-3 Keegan Brown
Damon Heta 6-5 Maik Langendorf
Kyle Anderson 6-4 Ian White
Dave Chisnall 6-1 Max Hopp
Jamie Lewis 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Royden Lam
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Steve Beaton
James Wade 6-3 Ross Smith
Saturday November 3 (2000 Local Time 1900 UK Time)
Second Round x8
Michael Smith v Kyle Anderson
Raymond van Barneveld v Raymond Smith
Gary Anderson v Dave Chisnall
Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price
Simon Whitlock v Daryl Gurney
Rob Cross v Jamie Lewis
Mensur Suljovic v James Wade
Michael van Gerwen v Damon Heta