Gray, 26, will now meet double World Champion John Part in the quarter-finals on Friday night in the biggest game of his career.

"After beating Phil I spoke to some experienced professionals, Denis Ovens and Rod Harrington, and they told me to keep my feet on the ground and not get carried away," admitted Gray

"I'll take any advice on offer because this is new heights for me!"

Part - who actually sponsored Gray for a period when he first arrived on the PDC circuit - continued his impressive start to the tournament with a 3-0 defeat of Wayne Mardle.

The Canadian dropped just three legs in the clash to remain on course for a third final in the double-start tournament.

The night's other two games both went all the way, with Terry Jenkins and Mark Dudbridge prevailing 3-2 to progress to the last eight.

Dudbridge produced a remarkable final leg to book his place in the quarters, missing nine darts to start the decider in his game with Andy Jenkins before landing his only 180 of the contest to set up a stunning 101 checkout after the Portsmouth ace missed two darts for victory.

Jenkins, meanwhile, overcame a strong challenge from Chris Mason with an impressive final set to keep alive his hopes of a second successive Dublin final.

The second round concludes on Thursday night, with World Champion Raymond van Barneveld facing Mervyn King, 2004 winner Colin Lloyd meeting Alan Tabern and world number three James Wade in action against Alex Roy.

Adrian Lewis can take another step towards securing his 2008 Premier League Darts place when he meets one of his rivals for a place in the top six, Roland Scholten.

SkyBet World Grand Prix

Second Round

Mark Dudbridge 3-2 Andy Jenkins

Adrian Gray 3-1 Andy Smith

Terry Jenkins 3-2 Chris Mason

John Part 3-0 Wayne Mardle

Thursday Fixtures (7pm start)

James Wade v Alex Roy

Colin Lloyd v Alan Tabern

Raymond van Barneveld v Mervyn King

Adrian Lewis v Roland Scholten