PAUL LIM caused a huge sensation at the William Hill World Darts Championship to end Mark Webster's tilt at the title.

The legendary 63-year-old defeated Denbigh dartist Webster in an epic first round clash on Monday night.

Lim is a huge name in darts thanks to his nine-dart heroics way back at the 1990 BDO World Championship, but he rolled back the years to win a new generation of fans at the Alexandra Palace with a thrilling 3-2 success over former Lakeside world champion Webster.

The veteran had earlier beaten Kai Fan Leung 2-0 in the preliminary round, but few gave him a chance of returning and being able to live with Webster on the big stage.

Lim made his first World Championship appearance way back in 1982 - before both Leung and Webster were born - but will not have played better as he hit six 180s and averaged 95.98 in a scintillating performance that had the Ally Pally crowd jumping.

It was always a tight affair, but the longer it went on the stronger Lim seemed to get, and Webster had to dig deep and take out some real pressure doubles to save himself in the fourth set and extend the match.

The first four sets all went the distance, with Lim missing a dart for the match in the fourth, but far from fading, the veteran upped his performance in the deciding set, which he won 3-0 to set up a second round tie with third seed Gary Anderson on Friday.

"It's been an unbelievable night," said Lim.

"I could feel that the crowd were for me and it's so great to feel that.

"I know the PDC World Championship is the cream of all darts tournaments and to be part of it really is an honour.

"To play well with the crowd like that is a different story, I think the way the crowd were really played a part in me winning.

"I had to dig deep. It's tough though, I'm running out of stamina!"

Webster was magnanimous in defeat and he Tweeted: "Paul Lim a credit to the game. Best of luck on Friday. Gutted, but lost to the better player."

The first four sets all went the distance, with Lim missing a dart at double 15 for the match in the fourth.

Webster succeeded in landing a third-dart double to stay in the hunt, before taking the decider to square an enthralling match.

Amazingly, it was Lim who raised his game in the deciding set, leaving Webster in his wake as he hit finishes of 89, 114 and a closing 80 to secure his historic triumph.