World number three James Wade (7/1 second favourite World Championship – Outright) beat Steve Brown 3-1 at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday – then warned his rivals he is ready to go one better this year at the PDC World Championship.

This year’s Premier League champion stormed into an impressive 2-0 lead in London before Brown finally emerged from his shell to take the third set.

However, Wade, who reached the semi-finals last year, took advantage of a crucial break in the second leg of the third set to see off the challenge of Brown and set up a second-round clash with Michael van Gerwen (125/1 World Championship – Outright) of the Netherlands.

‘The Machine’ hit his best World Championship average of nearly 97 and six 180s to dispose of the plasterer from Bristol and then revealed he expects to get better as the tournament reaches the business end.

“I’ve practised so hard the last two weeks to get up for this, I’ve put everything into this tournament so I’m glad I got up and played like that after everything I’ve put in,” Wade told Sky Sports .

“I’m different from each game though, I’ll average 110 one game and 85 the next but that’s just me.”

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