Barney races through

Defending champion Raymond van Barneveld raced into the third round of the Ladbrokes.com PDC World Championship with a 4-1 victory over Jason Clark.

Despite reportedly suffering from the flu, van Barneveld was never in any real danger at London’s Alexandra Palace.

The Dutchman was in particularly good form in the third set, managing a three-dart average of 107.4 and an 11-dart finish.

He narrowly missed a maximum 170 checkout in the last leg of the fourth set but sealed victory in the fifth with another 11-dart leg.

Earlier in the day, world number five Andy Hamilton slumped to defeat against Alex Roy.

Hamilton, a semi-finalist 12 months ago, was beaten 4-1 by the world number 27 who will face John Part in the next round.

Tony Eccles made a miraculous comeback from 3-0 down against Steve Maish to continue his dream debut in the event.

Maish missed several darts for the match before Eccles snatched it in a decider.

Former runner-up Mark Dudbridge set up a third-round date with world number three James Wade following a 4-2 win over Ronnie Baxter.