Defending BDO darts champion Scott Waites wins first-round match
Wednesday 11 January 2017 13:31, UK
Defending champion Scott Waites saw off a spirited challenge from Dennis Harbour to secure his place in the second round of the BDO World Darts Championship at Lakeside.
Waites, who is seeking a third BDO title, produced a composed display with a 3-1 win over Harbour, a quarter-finalist in 2016.
The No 6 seed kept his cool under some early pressure, sealing the opening set with a 142 check-out before heading into the interval 2-0 ahead after Harbour, who had come through a preliminary round contest, failed to make the most of his chances.
The Harbour Master, though, fought back on the return to the oche, taking the opening two legs before closing out the set 3-1.
However, Waites remained composed as he immediately regained control of Tuesday's final match with two 15-dart legs before closing out victory on double 16.
Earlier in the evening session, Mark McGeeney saw off James Hurrell, the Gladiator coming through 3-1 and he will next play Waites for a place in round three.
Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas beat Conan 'The Barbarian' Whitehead, also progressing by three sets to one.
The afternoon session saw two Dutch players seal their places in the next round.
Debutant Danny Noppert beat Canadian David Cameron 3-1, averaging 98.07 and landing six maximums, while
Richard Veenstra, last year's semi-finalist, saw off Scotland's Ross Montgomery by the same score to set up a second-round match against his countryman.
However, ninth-seeded Dutchman Wesley Harms went out after losing 3-0 to Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski, who moves into the second round of the World Championships for the first time.
In the women's tournament, top seed Deta Hedman suffered shock first-round exit against Casey Gallagher, losing 2-1 as the 20-year-old secured six consecutive legs for her first World Championship victory.
Elsewhere, three-time world champion Anastasia Dobromyslova had to come from behind to secure her place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over Rhian Griffiths of Wales.
