Darts: World Championship starts with a bang as Adrian Lewis sneaks through

Lewis (left) was pushed all the way by Heydon (right)

The PDC World Darts Championship has grown to become one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the sporting calendar, and its opening night yesterday certainly didn't disappoint.

Defending champion Adrian Lewis came within a whisker of crashing out in the first round to undertaker Nigel Heydon, while Mark Webster suffered a surprising loss to fellow Welshman Richie Burnett.

Lewis deserved to lose.

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, with Lewis far too often falling on the side of arrogance.

He walked onto the stage as if he thought he could just turn up and win, but was in for a rude awakening as Heydon showed more quality than he anticipated.

Heydon raced into a two sets lead before Lewis hit back with two nervy sets of his own.

In a topsy-turvy deciding set, both players showed nerves and missed crucial doubles, with Lewis eventually sealing it in the tie-break.

Lewis did not look like the world champion and did not act like one.

If he thinks he can simply sweep opponents aside with minimal effort, it won't be long before the defence of his crown does come to an end.

Lewis struggled to get his game going

Nerves may have played a part in it, with Lewis under severe pressure as defending champion, but on this evidence, he will be no match for some of the bigger players in this tournament.

One of the main talking points after the match was the wasp sting Lewis suffered to his non-throwing hand while playing, but nothing should be taken away from the magnificent Heydon.

Not many people gave him a prayer of producing one of darts' greatest ever upsets before the match, but he showed tremendous consistency throughout and only showed nerves in the crucial final legs.

He hasn't been in the PDC for long but experiences like this will boost his confidence and give him a good chance of forging a successful career.

Lewis must be given credit for never giving up when he was behind - someone like James Wade may have thrown in the towel - and should forget this match immediately.

He needs to start afresh in his next match and refocus his efforts, because the strength in depth in darts is so good that anyone would be able to beat him on their day.

Robert Thornton is likely to be Lewis' next opponent and he is more than capable of beating 'The Jackpot'.

He will not be able to afford another nonchalant performance.

As for Mark Webster, his defeat to Richie Burnett must be very hard to take.

Burnett and Webster produced a thrilling game

Webster has had a terrific year since his Premier League nightmare and must have felt confident of challenging for the title after being a losing semi-finalist for the last two years, but was always going to find Burnett a tricky opening opponent.

Burnett is in the form of his life - better than he was when he won the BDO world title in 1995 - so in some senses, his victory is no more than a minor upset.

He is back among darts' elite and must feel very confident of a long run at Alexandra Palace, although he will face a very difficult second round opponent in John Part or John Henderson.

Burnett v Webster would have been a decent quarter or semi final, so it is a real pity one of them had to go so early.

There were 20 180s - 11 to Burnett and nine to Webster - and that is pretty much unheard of for a first round encounter.

Webster did very little wrong and can feel extremely unlucky to have been dumped out in the first round, but he simply lost to a better player on the night.

These two classic matches have got the World Championships off to a cracking start which has surely whetted the appetite of all darts fans.

There were also impressive wins for Roland Scholten and Wayne Jones, while Phil Taylor will get his campaign underway tonight.

Of last night's players, Richie Burnett appears the most likely to have a long run in the competition, although Lewis could still launch a challenge if he concentrates better and stops taking victories for granted.

There is sure to still be plenty of drama and mayhem ahead in this darts feast.

The party has only just begun.