James Wade battled back from within one leg of a third-round defeat to beat Keegan Brown and keep alive his hopes of a first World Darts Championship title.
A tournament that has had its equal share of comebacks and upsets, looked like it was on course for a 20th member of the top 32 to crash out before Christmas, but The Machine rallied from two sets down for a sensational 4-3 victory
Just as in his victory over Seigo Asada, Wade was staring at a shock defeat. 3-1 down in sets and trailing 2-1 in the fourth, the ninth seed dug deep into his reserves as a multiple major champion to fight back and set up a last-16 date with Ryan Joyce.
On the final day of the tournament before the Christmas break, there was room for one early upset as Brendan Dolan dispatched Mervyn King - the 19th seed to depart the tournament.
James Wade 4-3 Keegan Brown, Third Round
Brown took the opening set, pinning double four to hit the front but only after Wade had rallied from 2-0 and a barrage of jeers from the crowd to miss two darts for the set himself.
Wade rallied again from 2-0 down in the second set to force the deciding leg and there was little to separate the two until Brown took out a clinical 80 for a two-set lead before The Machine began to find his range in the third.
Brown was quick to extinguish Wade's initial hopes of a comeback, a classy 117 was quickly followed by a 13-dart leg to mop up a 3-0 sweep of the fourth and leave Wade on the brink at 3-1 down.
Having taken the fifth without dropping a leg, Wade found himself on the brink at 2-1, but a brilliant 111 check-out kept him alive and a second double top, amid a cacophony of boos, forced the match into a deciding set.
Wade then hit the front with a third double top on the bounce and then a 13-dart break took him within a leg of the contest, Brown flickered before Wade's brilliant 101 sealed a superb victory.
Chris Dobey 4-3 Vincent van der Voort, Third Round
Chris Dobey reached the last 16 of the World Darts Championship for the first time in his career with a hard-fought victory over Vincent van der Voort that was every bit as close as the rankings suggested.
Van der Voort took the opening leg but an inspired Dobey needed just 38 darts and an average north of 100 to wrap up the first set in double quick time.
Dobey looked in control at 2-1 in the second but such is the speed of Van der Voort that in the blink of an eye the Dutchman rattled off two legs to level the contest before a see-saw contest swayed both ways.
Dobey rattled off three successive legs, maintaining his three-figure average in the process to retake the lead but a brilliant 87 finish via the bullseye, invigorated Van der Voort who claimed the fourth.
When claiming the opening leg of the fifth, despite trailing in every stat that mattered, it was the Dutchman that led and he followed up with a brilliant 104, the highest finish of the contest, and completed a three-leg sweep to claim the outright lead.
Dobey followed suit with the next three to force the deciding set where he eventually prevailed to set up a date with the two-time champion.
Brendan Dolan 4-2 Mervyn King, Third Round
World No 45 Brendan Dolan produced a superb performance to reach the last 16 for the first time - a 95.73 average, a 47 per cent check-out rate and five 100+ finishes was enough to beat 19th seed, Marvyn King.
Despite being outscored in the maximums, Dolan was good value to see off the 2009 semi-finalist with a 4-2 win and a date with either Benito van de Pas or Toni Alcinas.
Amid a barrage of big finishes, it was Dolan who took the opening couple of sets - the Irishman clattered in 126, and 116 on his way to a 2-0 lead.
And he struck again with a classy 117 to level the third but King hung on to draw within one and then reeled off the next set for a level contest before Dolan pulled clear.
The Northern Irishman edged a decisive fifth to go back in front, a second 180 of the match set him up for a timely 12-darter to break throw and claim a 3-2 lead.
Dolan moved to within a leg of the match thanks to a brilliant fifth three-figure out-shot. King missed a dart at double 16 for a 104 and was punished by Dolan's 105 via the same double before The History Maker pinned the same target to seal his last-16 spot.
You can follow every dart from every session of the World Darts Championships on Sky Sports Darts, check out the full schedule here. You can also stay up to date with all the action behind the scenes by following us @SkySportsDarts