The pairing of two-time world champion Gary Anderson and Peter Wright suffered embarrassment at the first hurdle last year when they were dumped out by Singapore.

They avoided a similar shock this time around as they beat United States duo Larry Butler and Darin Young 5-1 at the Eissporthalle in the German city.

All of the first round ties at the Professional Darts Corporation event are doubles matches and the best of nine legs.

Fourth seeds Australia also went through today as they beat Hong Kong 5-1.

Wales, the fifth seeds, had a tougher time of it before beating Thailand 5-3.

Austria were the only other seeded team to be in action on day one but the eighth-ranked pair of Mensur Suljović and Zoran Lerchbacher were knocked out 5-4 by Japan's Seigo Asada and Haruki Muramatsu.

There were comfortable wins for Brazil and Canada, who both won 5-1 against Denmark and Italy respectively.

China, featuring the only women's player in the tournament in Momo Zhou, lost 5-2 to Switzerland.

Round one will reach a conclusion tomorrow.

Defending champions The Netherlands will begin their account against Gibraltar.