Priestley claims narrow victory

Laursen took control of the game from the start to build up a comfortable lead and inch to victory.

But he struggled to cope with the pressure and missed eight doubles to close out the win.

The experienced Priestley, who has won both the BDO and PDC world titles, took advantage to advance.

"I'm so relieved," said Priestley, who will meet Andy Hamilton on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.

"It's unbelievable that he missed so many doubles but they weren't far away - they were all on the wire. To have had that sort of luck someone must be looking down on me.

"It was hard work. I deserved to lose a couple of times, but he didn't hit the double and in the end I ground it out.

"I can play much better than that and I got away with it."

Roland Scholten completed the second-round action with a dramatic 4-3 over Alex Roy, who put up one of his best performances since bursting onto the scene in 2000.

The first match of the third round was much more one-sided as four-time British Darts Organisation world champion Raymond van Barneveld won every leg against 19-year-old Dutch compatriot Rico Vonck.

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