An honest Martin Lukeman admitted he could have fallen at the first hurdle at the PDC World Championships after the quality of his finishing proved to be the difference in his battling 3-1 victory over Haupai Puha at Alexandra Palace last night.

The Watford thrower took out finishes of 114 and 110 to help him establish a two-set lead, before the New Zealander halved the deficit.

But Lukeman – who converted 50 per cent of his doubles compared to his opponent’s 23.5 – got the job done in the fourth set to set up a second round meeting with Damon Heta on Thursday.

The 38-year-old was honest in his assessment of his performance though, admitting Puha had let him off the hook at times by not converting his opportunities.

“If I wasn’t hitting my doubles as good I was, I think I would have been in a little bit of trouble,” he said. “If he’d have hit his doubles, I would definitely have been in trouble, but I’m a scrapper, that’s what I do.”

This is Lukeman’s second appearance at the World Championships – and the second time he’s made it through the first round – and he’s relishing being back on the sport’s biggest stage.

He said: “Every player wants to come here. It’s not about special, you want to come to the World Championships. All year round you’re just fighting and fighting and scraping and doing whatever you’ve got to do to get here.

“This is the main one everyone wants. It doesn’t matter how many people talk and say this major, that major, everyone wants to do the worlds.

Lukeman, who was beaten by Martin Schindler in the second round last year, will now take on world No. 10 Heta as he aims to reach the third round for the first time.

He said: “Damon’s an absolute gentleman, he’s a great fella and we always have battles. I’m looking forward to it."