Golden Gary Anderson staged an astonishing recovery to keep alive his hopes of a third William Hill World Championship title.

The two-times king of the Alexandra Palace in 2015 and 2016 somehow stayed on course for a hat-trick by rising from the depths to drown the hopes of his fishing pal Ian White with a miraculous fightback success.

Anderson was in desperate trouble after a dismal beginning in his attempt to join countrymen Peter Wright and Alan Soutar in Thursday’s last 16 encounters.

The Scot was three sets down and heading for the exit as Diamond sparkled early in the match.

Yet, remarkably, Anderson dragged himself out of jail with a searing comeback.

The Musselburgh man was 2-0 down and, after missing darts to win the third set, was punished as White took it with a special 124 finish.

At that stage, the game looked up for the Scottish hero and a meek exit was on the cards.

But Anderson dug deep into his vast reserves of experience and quality to reel off the last four sets against all the odds to progress.