Scott Waites reaches BDO World Dart Championship semi-finals but Scott Mitchell is out

Defending champion Scott Mitchell was stunned 5-3 by Dutchman Richard Veenstra in the quarter-finals of the BDO World Darts Championship.

Neither player hit any heights, in terms of scoring or finishing, but the unseeded Veenstra made the most of his chances to secure a semi-final clash with Canada's Jeff Smith, a 5-2 winner over Dennis Harbour.

Mitchell dropped four of the first five sets before threatening a fantastic comeback, but Veenstra regained his composure to win the eighth set and move through.

Smith reached the semi-finals last year before going down 6-0 to the eventual champion, and he now has a second chance to make it to the final after defeating his veteran English rival.

Scott Waites again battled back from the brink to pull off a thrilling quarter-final win over top seed Glen Durrant.

The 2013 winner appeared to be heading out when he trailed 4-2, but Waites staged another determined rally to complete a 5-4 victory over Durrant at Lakeside.

Durrant had not dropped a set in his previous matches and was left to count the cost of six missed darts to break throw in the second leg of the decider.

Waites also overcame a 3-0 deficit against Geert de Vos in the second round and will next face Jamie Hughes, who defeated Wesley Harms 5-1 in his quarter-final.

Hughes ended with an average of over 94 following his impressive one-sided win over Dutch fifth seed Harms.