SINGAPORE - Singaporean darts player Paul Lim stunned former world champion Mark Webster 3-2 in the first round of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship on Monday (Dec 18) at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Webster, 34, won the 2008 British Darts Organisation (BDO) World Championship. Both competitions are the only two World Professional Darts Championships held annually for the sport.

Lim, 63, had defeated Hong Kong's Kai Fan Leung in the preliminary round. Against No. 30 seed Webster, the Singaporean lost the first set but won the next two. The Welshman took the next set to force a deciding set, but Lim kept his cool to prevail, pumping his fist in relief as victory was sealed.

"I can feel the the crowd was (rooting) for me and it was so great to feel that," said Lim in his post-match interview, as the audience cheered.

"The PDC World Championships are the cream of all dart tournaments and to be part of it is an honour. To play well with the crowd like that is a different story and I want to thank them - the crowd played a big part in how I won tonight."

In June, Lim and his darts partner Harith Lim made history for Singapore after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup of Darts - the first time the Republic advanced this far in the annual competition.

Lim will face third-seeded Scot Gary Anderson, world champion in 2015 and 2016, in the second round of the PDC Darts Championships on Friday (London time).