Gary Anderson's bid for a third World Championship title remains on track after he got past Jermaine Wittamena in an epic third-round match that saw both players repeatedly come close to nine-darters.
The 55-year-old Scot posted an average of just over 102 to prevail in a contest in which each leg take won in around one minute and 30 seconds.
After sharing the opening two sets, Anderson pulled away in the third with 12, 11 and 15-dart legs. He moved within a set of victory after Wattimena missed a dart at D10 that would have levelled the scores.
The pair were neck and neck again in the fifth set, but a missed match dart at tops from Anderson allowed Wattimena to begin a stirring comeback that eventually took the contest to a decider.
Wattimena saved four match darts in total, while Anderson missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish in the decider before sealing a thrilling win.
A total of 24 180s were hit during the course of the third-round classic.
Rob Cross outclasses Damon Heta
Former champion Rob Cross overcame Damon Heta on Sunday to set up an enticing fourth-round World Championship clash with Luke Littler.
Cross' form has deserted him for large parts of the year with the 35-year-old revealing that mental health issues have affected his results.
But Cross showed signs of his undoubted class against Heta as he punished the Australian for missing a litany of darts at the outer ring over the course of the contest.
Heta effectively matched Cross' average but ended with a double success rate of just 32% compared to the 46% managed by 'Voltage'.
Littler booked his place in the last 16 after posting his best average to date at the World Championship (107.09) in a straight sets win over Mensur Suljovic.
"Luke Litter is the best player in the world at the minute for a reason. I think he was always daring to dream because he's always been that good," Cross told Sky Sports.
"I won't worry. I'm going to play darts and if I can get a little bit of magic out of myself, then who knows."
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Earlier on Sunday, Ryan Searle's eye-catching form continued as he routed 13th seed Martin Schindler 4-0. Searle is yet to drop a set at this year's tournament and will fancy his chances of reaching the quarterfinal stage when he takes on the also impressive James Hurrell.
Information from PA contributed to this report.