BDO World Championships: Scott Mitchell wins after first-round scare

Scott Mitchell is currently eighth in the BDO rankings

Defending champion Scott Mitchell beat qualifier Craig Caldwell in a deciding set in the first round of the BDO World Championships at Lakeside.

Mitchell, 45, from the New Forest, came from 1-0 and 2-1 behind to triumph 3-2 and reach the last 16.

Fellow Englishman Scott Waites, the 2013 champion, is also through after a 3-0 win over Willem Mandigers of the Netherlands.

Two-time BDO champion Ted Hankey was one of four preliminary-round winners.

In the women's event, England's 2015 runner-up Fallon Sherrock was knocked out by Denmark's Ann-Louise Peters in a sudden-death leg.

The 21-year-old's exit was another surprise in the women's draw, after Anastasia Dobromyslova's first-round defeat on Saturday.

Nine-time champion Trina Gulliver avoided an upset, but she needed a sudden-death leg to defeat fellow English thrower Dee Bateman.

'Scotty Dog' edges through

Mitchell overcame Tony O'Shea in a tight first-round contest on his way to a first world title in 2015 and the sixth seed required another resolute performance to progress past New Zealand's Caldwell.

Just as world number one Glen Durrant had done on Saturday, Mitchell produced a solid rather than spectacular display in his opening game.

Caldwell, who needed a preliminary-round win to reach round one, hit nine 180s in the match but Mitchell's superior finishing proved critical.

'I played like a plonker'

Ted Hankey (left) shakes hands with Dave Cameron after his 3-0 victory

Stoke-born Hankey, the BDO champion in 2000 and 2009, was making his first appearance at Lakeside for four years following a switch to the PDC circuit and a period of ill health.

"I was more nervous there than I was in two world finals," said the Shropshire-based 47-year-old, who beat Canada's Dave Cameron 3-0 to reach the first round.

"I wanted to be here, I scraped in through the back door, I've been practising so well, then I walk up there and play like a total plonker."

Key stats from day two

• Mitchell hit 12 of his 20 attempts at double (60%) against Caldwell, while his 161 finish in the third set is the highest of the tournament so far.

• Mitchell avoided a first-round exit, a fate suffered by two of the past three defending champions at Lakeside. Christian Kist was beaten by Robbie Green in 2013, while Waites lost to Alan Norris a year later. Stephen Bunting did not defend his title in 2015.

• Before Sunday's victory over Mandigers, Yorkshire's Waites had won only one match and three sets at Lakeside since thrashing Tony O'Shea 7-1 in the 2013 final.

• Gulliver has played in every women's World Championship at Lakeside since the tournament's inception in 2001.

Player reaction

Scott Mitchell: "It was something I started last year... I don't watch the players I'm due to be playing against. I made sure I didn't watch Craig's first game on Saturday. I went back to my room and watched From Russia With Love."

Craig Caldwell: "I'm happy with how I played but Scott showed his class and showed why he's world champion. I gave him everything I could but I just fell off a little bit in that last set."

Up next

John Walton, the 2001 champion, will end his three-year absence from Lakeside against Rob Modra in the preliminary round on Monday (13:00 GMT, live on BBC Two).

The first-round match between fourth seed Jamie Hughes and Scotland's Ross Montgomery is another highlight on day three, as is Hankey's game against Welsh 10th seed Martin Phillips.