Darts: Former world champions Adrian Lewis sends an early warning to his title rivals with a near flawless win over Dennis Smith

The 2011 and 2012 champion didn't concede a leg, while there were also wins for Justin Pipe, Michael Smith and Andy Smith

Adrian Lewis in action at the Darts World Championships (GETTY IMAGES)

Adrian Lewis sent a warning to his rivals at the PDC World Darts Championship with a near flawless 3-0 win over Dennis Smith.

Not only did Lewis, winner at the Alexandra Palace in 2011 and 2012, not concede a leg, the 28-year-old from Stoke did not allow his overmatched opponent a single shot at a double.

In fact, perhaps the only surprise of the encounter came when he failed to wrap up victory at the first attempt, missing the double 20 before then sealing a thoroughly professional whitewash with his next dart to set up a clash with Dutchman Vincent van der Voort for a place in the last 16.

The writing was on the wall in the opening leg when Lewis made a 126 checkout before going on to wrap up the set with minimal fuss after back-to-back 14-dart finishes.

The one-way traffic continued as Lewis immediately broke the throw with a 70 checkout before he moved into a two-set lead with another 14-darter.

Understandably, Lewis' levels dipped slightly as he wasted five chances to win the first leg of the third set, but he still had too much in the tank for Smith, who was attracting more attention for his unique throwing style than his performance.

While the underdog did at least have a finish in what would prove to be the final leg, his failure to take out 141 allowed Lewis to step in and seal the match on double 10.

Eleventh seed Justin Pipe was emphatic as he breezed into the second round with a 3-0 victory over an off-colour Arron Monk, dropping just three legs on the way.

"We both suffered from first round nerves out there," Pipe told www.pdc.tv. "I could see Arron was really struggling and I just had to get the job done which I did."

World Youth champion Michael Smith set up a clash with tournament favourite Phil Taylor after earning a 3-1 win over Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto, who had earlier beaten Paul Lim in the preliminary round, while Andy Smith came from a set down to beat Steve Brown 3-1.

The PDC World Darts Championship is sponsored by Ladbrokes.

PA