In the afternoon session, Welsh number seven seed Jonny Clayton also needed sudden death to pull off a sensational final-set comeback against Mickey Mansell in.
He was a leg away from defeat twice to his Northern Irish opponent, but came from behind to win the final set 6-5 in a sudden-death leg to win 3-2.
Clayton, who will play Gurney in round three, lost the opening set of the match, but fought back to lead 2-1, before being pegged back again by 51-year-old Mansell, who then missed match darts on double tops in the deciding set.
“I was very emotional. I’ve got to be honest, that meant a lot,” said Clayton, who is in the favourable half of the draw following shock second-round exits for former world champions Michael Smith and Gary Anderson.
“I had chances before and Mickey definitely had chances before. It wasn’t great to play in, not the best – I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
“There is a lot of weight off my shoulders after that. I know there is another gear or two in the bank, but I’ll be honest that meant a lot to me, it is a tester and will try and make me believe again.”
Clayton was 2-0 down in the fifth set after consecutive 136 and 154 checkouts from Mansell, but won three legs on the trot in 15, 12 and 10 darts to wrestle a 3-2 lead.
He missed three darts for the match, before his unseeded opponent held and broke Clayton’s throw to lead 4-3.
Mansell missed a match dart at double 20, before Clayton won on double five after two missed checkouts.
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock booked his place in the third round against England’s Chris Dobey with a 3-0 win over Wales’ Rhys Griffin.
Martin Lukeman, runner–up to Luke Littler at the Grand Slam of Darts last month, is out after a 3-1 loss to number 21 seed Andrew Gilding.
The final day before the Christmas break started with Poland’s number 31 seed Krzysztof Ratajski recording a 3-1 win over Alexis Toylo of the Philippines.
