BDO World Championships: Glen Durrant through to second round

Top seed Glen Durrant beat Welshman Dean Reynolds

Number one seed Glen Durrant is through to the second round of the BDO World Championships, but Anastasia Dobromyslova suffered a shock defeat in the women's event.

Russia's Dobromyslova, a three-time champion at Lakeside, lost 2-1 to Dutch debutant Anca Zijlstra.

There were no problems for Durrant, who beat Dean Reynolds of Wales 3-0.

But Tony O'Shea and seventh seed Darryl Fitton are out after losing their first-round games on Saturday.

Fitton missed six match darts against fellow Englishman Dennis Harbour and lost in a sudden-death leg, while three-time runner-up O'Shea was defeated 3-0 by Welsh 12th seed Jim Williams.

Craig Caldwell, Larry Butler and 2015 semi-finalist Jeff Smith won their preliminary round ties, with New Zealand's Caldwell set to face reigning champion Scott Mitchell in the first round on Sunday (13:00 GMT, live on BBC Two).

Dobromyslova's early exit was the biggest story in the women's draw on day one, with two-time champion Lisa Ashton easing into the last eight with a routine 2-0 win over Paula Jacklin.

'Duzza' does the business

Glen Durrant helped his country to win the WDF World Cup team title last year

Durrant recovered from the disappointment of an agonising semi-final defeat by Martin Adams 12 months ago to win several major titles in 2015, including the prestigious World Masters and Finder Masters.

The 45-year-old from Middlesbrough is a strong favourite to win the Lakeside crown for the first time on Sunday, 10 January and he showed glimpses of his quality in a straight-sets victory over talented 23-year-old Reynolds.

Durrant began in clinical fashion, hitting a 180 on his first visit to the oche and, after a slight wobble, clinching the first set with a 12-dart leg.

Lakeside debutant Reynolds provided a stern test for the world number one, but he missed doubles in a tight second set and that allowed Durrant to progress safely into round two.

Key stats from day one

Russia's Anastasia Dobromyslova lost to Anca Zijlstra

• Dobromyslova has reached at least the semi-final stage in each of her previous six appearances at Lakeside.

• Since his defeat by Scott Waites in the 2013 final, O'Shea has suffered three consecutive first-round losses at Lakeside, going out to Adams (2014), Mitchell (2015) and Williams (2016).

• Butler, who beat James Hurrell 3-2, is featuring in the BDO World Championships for the second time in his career. His debut was in 1992, and the 24-year gap between appearances is a tournament record.

Player reaction

Durrant: "I respected Dean so much. Every interview I did before the match, I said he was a fantastic player. The biggest compliment I can give him is that I never looked at the draw. He was the only guy I concentrated on in practice. I'm absolutely delighted to get through."

O'Shea: "Over the last three or four months in these big shows we do, I've beaten them all just lately - even Michael van Gerwen. But that's the pressure of Lakeside. That stage is like nowhere else. All the rules change and, believe me, it's tough."

Caldwell: "I've got Scott Mitchell now and it's just another game. We'll both have three darts in our hands, so who knows? If I can bring my form from New Zealand over here, who knows?"

Up next

Mitchell is one of three men's world champions in action on Sunday. Waites takes on Willem Mandigers of the Netherlands in the first round, while two-time winner Ted Hankey will make his first appearance at the BDO World Championships for four years.

Hankey, who has a preliminary-round match with Canada's Dave Cameron, switched to the Professional Darts Corporation circuit following his semi-final defeat in 2012 and has also battled ill health in recent years.

In the women's draw, nine-time champion Trina Gulliver and 2015 runner-up Fallon Sherrock are both involved in first-round ties.