Lisa Ashton was edged out in the final leg of her first round match at the PDC World Darts Championship ©Getty Images

England's Lisa Ashton was edged out in the final set of her first round match at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship in London, as she aimed to become the second female to win a match at the tournament.

Ashton was looking to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Fallon Sherrock, whose run to the third round of the tournament last year created a lot of publicity and helped to take the sport to a new audience.

However, the Englishwoman came up short against compatriot Adam Hunt, who edged to a 3-2 victory.

In the deciding set, Ashton had a chance to write her own history at Alexandra Palace, but bust 130 when going for double five to take a 2-1 lead in the final set.

Hunt pinched the leg before completing victory with a composed 120 checkout in the next leg.

Elsewhere in the first round England's Ryan Joyce beat Karel Sedláček of the Czech Republic 3-2 while Callan Rydz of England beat James Bailey of Australia 3-1.

Three more first round matches saw whitewash 3-0 wins - for England's Ross Smith against fellow countryman David Evans, William O'Connor of Ireland against Niels Zonneveld of the Netherlands and Max Hopp of Germany against Australia's Gordon Mathers.

Premier League champion Glen Durrant was among the winners on day two of the PDC World Darts Championship ©Getty Images
Premier League champion Glen Durrant was among the winners on day two of the PDC World Darts Championship ©Getty Images

Two second round matches also took place on the second day of competition, including Premier League champion Glen Durrant of England against Diogo Portela of Brazil.

Durrant ran out a comprehensive 3-0 winner, only dropping one leg throughout the whole match.

The other second round match was a tighter affair, with England's Chris Dobey coming from two sets down to defeat Canada's Jeff Smith 3-2.

Dobey had darts to win both of the opening two sets but after failing to take his chances knew he would have to win the hard way.

After forcing the decider, Dobey raced through the crucial final set taking out 130 on the bull to win the first leg in 15 darts before 12 and 14 dart legs sealed the comeback win.

Although a limited number of fans were allowed in on the first day, owing to London's move to increased levels of coronavirus restrictions, which took effect today, action is now taking place behind closed doors, potentially until the conclusion of the tournament on January 1 2021.

Tomorrow's action sees six more first round and two further second round matches take place across two sessions, with all matches continuing to take place over the best of five sets.