BDO World Darts Championship 2015: Daily Scores, Results, Draw Schedule and More

Scott Mitchell reigned supreme in the BDO Darts World Championship for 2015, taking out Martin Adams in one of the greatest finals of modern times.

Mitchell's 7-6 victory over the Wolf epitomised just how dramatic this year's championship has been, with shock results, incredible finishes and big scores galore.

Read on your daily recaps of a remarkable tournament at the Lakeside.

Sunday Recap: Scott Mitchell Crowned World Champion

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Scott Mitchell won the 2015 BDO Darts World Championship on Sunday, as he edged out Martin Adams 7-6 in a thrilling final at the Lakeside.

The players exchanged blows throughout the match, and the fact that neither of them was able to establish a two-set lead tells you all you need to know.

Three-time champion Adams has been in this position so many times before, but even he was feeling the heat as the first set got underway.

Mitchell broke the Wolf immediately, before racing into a 2-0 leg lead in the opener. Adams then had a little bit of double trouble, allowing Mitchell to take the third leg and move into a 1-0 set lead.

That rather set the tone for the rest of the match for Adams, as even though there was nothing wrong with his scoring, the doubles continued to elude him.

Even so, the 58-year-old scoring power was too much for Mitchell in the second set, as he comfortably won in 3-0 to level the scores up at 1-1.

Then, it started to get tight.

The range was quite remarkable. There were century finishes as well as some incredibly low doubles. There simply wasn’t any consistency.

With the pair locked at 3-3, though, Mitchell began to find his range.

He crucially broke Adams in the first game, going out on bullseye in a 74 finish, before taking full advantage of the Wolf’s hesitance on doubles to move ahead 4-3.

That left Mitchell just three sets away from becoming the world champion, but the jitters started to set in.

At 2-2 in the eighth, Mitchell had three clear darts at double 8 to take a 5-3 victory and close in on the crown, but as he chased the double round the board all the way to double 2, his arm let him down.

That gave Adams an invitation to work his way back into the match, which he duly accepted thanks to finding the middle of the lipstick on tops.

That’s the way it played out until the deciding set, with both Adams and Mitchell pouncing on mistakes to punish their opponent and still grappling for consistency.

When Adams broke Mitchell to win the 12th set and set up the decider, it looked as if the momentum had swung his way.

That’s how it seemed in the opening leg, too, with the Wolf on 32 and Mitchell way back on 158.

However, then came the Englishman’s best three darts of the night: treble 20, treble 20, double 19 to the biggest cheer of the tournament so far.

He then held his throw to make it 2-0, before Adams did the same to leave Mitchell the task of throwing for the match.

Both players landed big blows, but the Wolf needed to take out 121 to stand any chance with Mitchell waiting on 40.

After Adams narrowly missed the bullseye, Mitchell put his dart right in the middle of the double 20 bed before sinking to his knees knowing that he was the new world champion.

The topsy-turvy final was only fitting for what’s been an incredible tournament, and Mitchell was understandably ecstatic when talking to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt after the match.

"It's quite amazing," he said. "Halfway through that, I really wished I was watching it, I didn't want tobe up here. but it's everything your dreams are made of. Martin is an awesome champion, he's helped us all and I hope I'm still playing like that at his age."

The 44-year-old had countless chances to dispose of Adams throughout the match, but it’s the 158 that really won him the title.

Taking out a shot of that magnitude in the deciding set of a world championship is worthy of winning such a title, and that it did.

Saturday Recap

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Women's Final

Lisa Ashton (Eng) 3-1 Fallon Sherrock (Eng)  

Men's Semi-finals

Scott Mitchell (Eng) 6-0 Jeff Smith (Can)  

Martin Adams (Eng) 6-5 Glen Durrant (Eng)

Recap 

Lisa Ashton won the women's 2015 BDO World Darts Championships as she beat Fallon Sherrock 3-1 at Lakeside on Saturday while Martin Adams set up an all-English men's final with Scott Mitchell.

Defending champion Ashton became only the third woman to retain the famous title as she won a terrific final against the 20-year-old Sherrock.

The youngster would live to rue a string of missed doubles as she had the opportunity to gain parity and win set No. 2 after the unseeded Ashton had claimed the opener, but Sherrock eventually went 2-0 down.

Sherrock rallied impressively to win the third set and make it 2-1, but experience eventually showed as the 44-year-old Ashton refused to be caught and she saw out victory to her obvious delight, per BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright:

"I'm over the moon. I've been really pleased with my form this week and I can't ask for any better."

Adams and Glen Durrant played out arguably the best match of this year's tournament in the day's second men's semi-final, both players producing some stunning darts in a phenomenal contest.

Neither player could take anything like a significant lead in the best-of-11 match, some exceptional high-scoring being paired with unbelievable checkouts throughout the contest.

At 3-3, Durrant looked to have stolen the momentum as he took out a 117 finish to win a deciding leg in the seventh set, only for Adams to draw level once again at 4-4 with his own monster checkout of 136.

Durrant then came within touching distance of his first World Championship final as he moved into a 5-4 lead but Wolfie—a three-time Lakeside winner—was not to be denied a richly deserved deciding set despite his opponent's best efforts.

The final set was forced to 2-2 despite Durrant having a couple of opportunities to take the match, and Adams finally edged a breathless contest 6-5 after a match neither player deserved to lose.

In the first men's semi-final of the day England's Scott Mitchell reached the last two with consummate ease, thrashing Canadian qualifier Jeff Smith 6-0 to reach his first Lakeside final.

It could have been a different story had the North American won the deciding leg in the first set but, as it happened, the fourth-seeded Mitchell took the opener and then cruised to victory.

Smith won just six legs throughout the entire match as he failed to show the clinical finishing that had defined his tournament until Saturday. 

Friday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Men's Quarter-Finals

Brian Dawson (Eng) 2-5 Scott Mitchell (Eng)

Ross Montgomery (Sco) 1-5 Martin Adams (Eng)

Evening Session

Men's Quarter-Finals

Robbie Green (Eng) 1-5 Jeff Smith (Can)

Darryl Fitton (Eng) 2-5 Glen Durrant (Eng)

Women's Semi-Finals

Lisa Ashton (Eng) 2-0 Sharon Prins (Ned)

Fallon Sherrock (Eng) 2-1 Anastasia Dobromyslova (Rus)

Recap

Friday's afternoon session saw the quarter-finals of this year's BDO World Championship get underway, with Scott Mitchell and Martin Adams becoming the first two players to earn semi-final berths.

Their victories ensure an Englishman will fight for the 2015 title as Ross Montgomery exited at Adams' hands, leaving Jeff Smith as the last remaining non-English contender hoping to claim the Lakeside title.

Montgomery was battered 5-1 by No. 3 seed Wolfie and, despite managing a terrific win over Scott Waites in the second round, was found to be severely out of his depth in Friday's encounter.

Three-time champion Adams was clinical when it mattered, telling BBC Sport after the victory: "The one thing I'm pleased about today is that I hit some doubles without mucking about."

Wolfie started brightly, claiming the first set three legs to nil, but that would prove to be the only unanswered set of the day's events.

Montgomery managed 12 maximums during the loss compared to Adams' six, per the official BDO World Darts website, but his accuracy in hitting the doubles wasn't up to scratch.

In the earlier match, Mitchell made his way past Brian Dawson due in no small part to the magnificent start he made, winning eight of the first nine legs to claim a 3-1 lead.

Dawson claimed the fifth set to find himself just one down, but it was at this point Mitchell stepped on the gas, nailing three of his total four 180s in the final two sets.

Mitchell hit the bull to check out on 132 en route to victory, revelling in the win afterwards, per BBC Sport:

"

The finishing was good there but I still don't think I've played my best game - I've not really scored alongside it. The Lakeside's been part of my life since I was an eight-year-old. I've been here six times as a fan, six times as a player and now I'm in the semi-finals. I can't take it in.

"

Wolfie now awaits Glen Durrant in his semi-final, while Mitchell will face off against Jeff Smith, who became the first Canadian to make the semi-finals since compatriot John Part became world champion in 1994.

He bulldozed his way past Robbie Green 5-1 and, despite only managing to hit one maximum while his opponent took seven, the Canadian's finishing was sublime.

Building on the wins over Gary Robson and Wesley Harms, "The Silencer" is really beginning to build some momentum at Lakeside heading into the final four.

Durrant's win over Darryl Fitton on Friday evening was similarly dominant on paper as the No. 7 seed emerged a 5-2 victor, although "The Dazzler" made a competitive start.

At 1-1, things looked close, but after managing to win just two of the 11 legs which decided sets three and four, Fitton dropped off the pace and never truly recovered.

In the women's competition, defending champion Lisa Ashton and Fallon Sherrock set up an all-English final, beating Sharon Prins and Anastasia Dobromyslova, respectively.

Not since beating Deta Hedman in the opening round has Ashton lost a set and the title holder showed her intent against Prins, establishing a 1-0 lead with a superb 121 checkout.

She would go on to close out her win and, after a close affair between Sherrock and Russian Dobromyslova, the 20-year-old is targeting her second World Championship crown.

Thursday Recap

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Evening Session

Men's Second Round

Ross Montgomery (SCO) beat Sam Waites (ENG): 4-0

Glen Durrant (ENG) beat Jamie Hughes (ENG): 4-1

Women's Quarter-finals

Lisa Ashton (ENG) beat Trina Gulliver (ENG): 2-0

Sharon Prins (NED) beat Rachel Brooks (ENG): 2-1

Afternoon Session

Men's Second Round

Jeff Smith (CAN) beat Gary Robson (ENG): 4-3

Women's Quarter-finals

Anastasia Dobromyslova (RUS) beat Zoe Jones (ENG): 2-0

Fallon Sherrock (ENG) beat Aileen de Graaf (NED): 2-1

Glenn Durant was hugely impressive in seeing off fellow Englishman Jamie Hughes 4-1 on Thursday. Durant won 13 legs and hit five 180s, per BDODarts.com. In total, he hit at least a ton on 15 separate occasions.

Hughes simply couldn't keep pace with that type of scoring.

It was a similar problem for Trina Gulliver against Lisa Ashton. The latter broke the ton mark five times, including a 180.

But as impressive as they were, neither Durant nor Ashton won as emphatically as Ross Montgomery. The Scotsman whitewashed Scott Waites, winning four consecutive sets in the final match of the evening session.

Montgomery bossed proceedings, hitting the ton a whopping 24 times. He also struck 180 on four occasions.

By contrast, it took Jeff Smith seven sets to outlast Gary Robson and advance to the quarter-finals. The Canadian won 4-3 after Robson had pushed things to a final set with some brilliant darts under pressure.

Smith has joined a quintet of Englishmen in the last eight. Scott Mitchell, Brian Dawson, Martin Adams, Darryl Fitton and Robbie Green are waiting for Smith, along with the winners of the last two second-round matches.

Smith saved his best for last. After Robson had stormed back in the sixth set, Smith put a ton up 11 times in the seventh, per BDODarts.com. That was enough to finally see off Robson, whom Smith said he struggled to "shake" off, per BBC Sport reporter Phil Cartwright.

Elsewhere, the women's quarter-finals served up a classic. Fallon Sherrock survived to beat Aileen de Graaf 2-1. She will be joined in the semi-final by Russian Anastasia Dobromyslova, who has won a hat-trick of BDO titles. She was perfect in her 2-0 demolition of Zoe Jones.

On current form, Dobromyslova has to remain the favourite to make it a quartet of BDO wins. Meanwhile, the men's event remains tough to predict with last year's winner Stephen Bunting now throwing darts in the PDC.

Although Smith is the only non-Englishman left at Lakeland, he'll have to fancy his chances. Follow this link for Friday's games.

Wednesday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Darryl Fitton (Eng) 4-3 Alan Norris (Eng)

Robbie Green (Eng) 4-0 Peter Sajwani (Swe)

Women's first round:

Aileen de Graaf (Ned) 2-0 Paula Jacklin (Eng)

Evening Session

Brian Dawson (Eng) 4-3 Madars Razma (Lat)

Jim Widmayer (USA) 0-4 Martin Adams (Eng)

Scott Mitchell (Eng) 4-2 Geert de Vos (Bel)

Recap

The second round of the 2015 BDO World Darts Championship got underway on Wednesday, and there was an immediate upset in the first encounter of the day as Darryl Fitton knocked out No. 2 seed Alan Norris after a thrilling seven-set clash.

The Dazzler booked his place in the quarters for the sixth time in his career as a result, having last made it to the last eight in 2013, beating Norris via tiebreak to claim his spot.

Norris missed three match darts across the sixth and seventh set, cracking under the growing pressure. Speaking to Phil Cartwright of BBC Sport after his triumph, Fitton said:

"

Alan was awesome when he got to the final last year. But I know I've got the game in me and it means so much to me because I'm still in the tournament. I hit the doubles at the important times.

"

The afternoon's upsets stopped there, though, as Peter Sajwani's amazing journey came to an end at the hands of Robbie Green, losing 4-0 and showing his win over No. 1 seed James Wilson may well have been something of a fluke after all.

The Swede managed to win a total of just three legs in the collision, where despite throwing a terrific 139 checkout in the first set, Sajwani was clearly out of his depth.

Wednesday also saw the women's first round come to a close as Aileen de Graaf became the last player to book her berth in the quarter-finals. She joins Dutch compatriot Sharon Prins in the next round following a 2-0 dismantling of Paula Jacklin, checking out with a final throw of 108 to finish the match in style, the highest checkout of the fixture.

The quality of the best-of-seven action was once again on display in the evening as Latvian hopeful Madars Razma fell to Brian Dawson 4-3 at Lakeside.

The pair started evenly, exchanging whitewashes in the opening two sets, but it was Razma who made the breakthrough, sailing into a 3-1 lead.

It was at this juncture Dawson turned the flair on, though, losing just one more leg in the last 10 played to win three consecutive sets and seal a comeback win.

Martin Adams wasn't asked to do quite as much against Jim Widmayer, losing only two legs in his clash against Captain America that it would be fair to call one-sided.

No. 3 seed Adams didn't reach his peak on Wednesday, that much is for sure, hitting a high checkout of 81, per the official BDO Darts website, but it was more a case of Widmayer falling short on the night.

He wasn't the only underdog to fall short on Wednesday, either, as Geert de Vos couldn't hold onto his 2-1 lead against Scott Mitchell, missing his shot at the quarters after losing the last three sets in succession.

Scotty Dog, who came into this match with a tournament average of 93.12, makes his way into the BDO World Championship quarter-finals for the first time as a result, where he'll face a winnable tie against Dawson.

Tuesday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Robbie Green (Eng) 3-1 Darius Labanauskas (Ltu)

Alan Norris (Eng) 3-2 Daniel Larsson (Swe)

Gary Robson (Eng) 3-0 Cedric Waegeman (Bel)

Women's First Round:

Trina Gulliver (Eng) 2-0 Anneke Kuijten (Ned)

Evening Session

Jim Widmayer (USA) 3-1 Rick Hofstra (Ned)

Glen Durrant (Eng) 3-1 Karel Sedlacek (Cze)

Jeff Smith (Can) 3-1 Wesley Harms (Ned)

Women's First Round:

Fallon Sherrock (Eng) 2-1 Maria Mason (Can)

Recap

English favourites Robbie Green, Alan Norris and Gary Robson each fended off European opposition in Tuesday's afternoon session to claim their places in the second round.

Green came up against the challenge of Lithuanian underdog Darius Labanauskas but never really looked like losing after sailing into a 2-0 lead in his Lakeside opener.

Labanauskas did a good of contending against "Kong" for patches and actually matched his foe in scores of 100 or more with each recording 39, per the official BDO Darts website, but Green's ability to excel past the century mark proved pivotal.

Norris' win over Swede Daniel Larsson was a much tighter affair, and the No. 2 overall seed looked as though he might actually exit at the first hurdle, twice going behind in sets. However, with mental fortitude and obvious talent, "Chuck" won the last two sets in succession to come back from a 2-1 deficit, banking a sensational tally of 56 ton-plus scores, including six maximums.

Neither player managed a stellar three-dart average in the tie, with Norris scoring 87.36 while Larsson's average was only slight worse at 87.24, showing just how tight this matchup was.

The afternoon's last encounter saw Cedric Waegeman of Belgium fall to Robson in the most one-sided clash of the session, losing 3-0 to "Big Robbo" after impressing in the preliminaries.

Waegeman's average of 72.33 is the lowest recorded by any player in the first round thus far, and No. 9 seed Robson barely had to get out of first gear in taking the victory, although his foe's own profligacy was an aiding factor.

In the women's competition, Trina Gulliver maintained the English dominance to open her tournament with a 2-0 triumph over Dutch opponent Anneke Kuijten.

It's been 12 years since Gulliver won her only World Darts title, but the gulf in class was evident as Kuijten failed to win even a single leg and bowed out of the tournament on a sour note.

Later on Tuesday, Jim Widmayer resumed the action with a 3-1 beating of 2014 quarter-finalist Rick Hofstra to book his place in the second round opposite Martin Adams.

The American started well after claiming the first set, but his going down 3-0 to Hofstra in the second showed their tie would be a tad closer than suggested. Or at least one would have thought.

"Captain America" registered a terrific checkout of 164 in the third set before taking his third and progressing to the next stage following a superb mid-match rally.

Following him into the next stage of competition was Glen Durrant, who got the better of Karel Sedlacek despite finishing with an inferior three-dart average to his Czech opponent.

Durrant suffered a blow in the first set, losing on his first throw, but from there it was all in the Englishman's favour, as he notched three 180s in his second set to give the perfect response and advance after a 3-1 victory.

Jeff Smith wasn't content with seeing Widmayer take his place as the only non-European in the second round, topping Wesley Harms in Tuesday's late fixture.

Smith, like Durrant, was forced into a corner after losing the opening set but proceeded to quieten any critics and justify his nickname—"The Silencer"—winning the next three sets in succession.

Fallon Sherrock's triumph over Canada's Maria Mason was just the second match of this BDO World Darts women's tournament to contain three legs.

The English representative won a tie that saw neither player manage to win a single set on her own throw, and Sherrock now looks forward to a quarter-final tie against either Aileen de Graaf or Paula Jacklin, who face off on Wednesday.

Monday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Jim Widmayer (US) 3-2 Rhys Hayden (Eng)*

James Wilson (Eng) 1-3 Peter Sajwani (Swe)

Willem Mandigers (Ned) 1-3 Daniel Larsson (Swe)*

Evening Session

Brian Dawson (Eng) 3-0 Jeffrey de Graaf (Ned)

Geert de Vos (Bel) 3-1 Remco van Eijden (Ned)

Jamie Hughes (Wal) 3-1 Michael van der Horst (Ned)

Women's First Round:

Rachel Brooks (Eng) 2-0 Casey Gallagher (Eng)

Top-seeded James Wilson was sent crashing out of the BDO World Darts Championship after losing 3-1 to Swedish debutant Peter Sajwani.

Wilson started the match with a real swagger, averaging in excess of 110 to take the first set. But the Swede—who admitted he wasn't feeling at his best when taking to the stage—went about establishing a foothold in the match and embarked on an incredible turnaround.

Sajwani—who is a supermarket manager by trade—put together three exceptional legs of darts in succession, leaving the man dubbed the "Jammie Dodger" reeling.

The Lakeside debutant sunk to his knees after notching the winning double and, as noted by the tournament's official Twitter account, was happy to talk about his achievement at length afterwards:

"

Good on you Peter, the only dart player to silence @BobbyGeorge180 and @ColinMurray #cantgetawordin #Lakeside

— BDO Darts (@BDOdarts) January 5, 2015"

In the afternoon's other two games, Jim Widmayer beat Rhys Hayden 3-2 in a thriller in what turned out to be an exceptional day for the overseas players. Daniel Larsson, perhaps inspired by his compatriot, beat Willem Mandigers in the final game of the session.

Later on Monday evening, Brian Dawson and Jamie Hughes tied up a flawless session for the British representatives while Geert de Vos also progressed into the second round.

Dawson got the better of 12th-seeded Jeffrey de Graaf, posting an 85+ average en route to a 3-0 thumping of his adversary.

Dawson, having made his way into the competition through the preliminaries, impressed against tough opposition, losing just two legs and hitting 24 ton-plus scores, per the official BDO website.

Hughes began 2015 in a similar manner to how he proceeded through most of last year, besting Michael van der Horst and holding his nerve well after initially dropping the first set.

Both players lost their opening throws, but "Yozza" rallied to fend off any hopes Van der Horst might have had in sealing a place in the next stage.

Elsewhere, Belgian De Vos held his own against Dutchman Remco van Eijden to win Monday evening's continental struggle 3-1. De Vos lost his opening throw but would go on to record a sensational 41 scores of 100 or more, including four maximums and a commendable three-dart average of more than 93.

Fifth-seeded Rachel Brooks topped Casey Gallagher 2-0 in the only women's fixture of the day, booking a quarter-final tie against Sharon Prins.

Sunday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Darryl Fitton (Eng) 3-0 Paul Jennings (Eng)

Ross Montgomery (Sco) 3-1 Pip Blackwell (Eng)

Seigo Asada (Jap) 1-3 Brian Dawson (Eng)*

Evening Session

Karel Sedlacek (Cze) 3-2 Paul Coughlin (Sco)*

Mike Day (NZ) 0-3 Jeff Smith (Can)*

Scott Waites v (Eng) 3-2 Sam Hewson (Eng)

Manchester's Darryl Fitton strolled into the next round at the BDO World Championship with a comfortable 3-0 win over Paul Jennings on Sunday.

The 15th-seeded Fitton looked in fine form and kept control of the tie throughout its duration. 

Fitton is playing in his 13th consecutive World Championship and the 52-year-old commented on just how much pressure he is feeling, along with his fellow professionals, per Phil Cartwright of BBC Sport:

"

We don't have enough of these tournaments. There's so much pressure on this first round. I know how Paul [Jennings] feels and how Tony O'Shea felt last night. It's so difficult. You play all year for one big tournament.

"

Scottish captain Ross Montgomery made comfortable work of English debutant Pip Blackwell. The 11th seed kept his composure in the second half of the match, advancing 3-1.

Brian Dawson's 3-1 win over Japan's Seigo Asada in the preliminary round ended the afternoon session.

The evening session started with preliminary round wins for Karel Sedlacek and Canada's Jeff Smith, who defeated Paul Coughlin and Mike Day.

Former champion Scott Waites then suffered a huge scare as he slid past 21-year-old Sam Hewson, grabbing a close 3-2 win.

Waites was eliminated in the first round last year after winning the title the year before—and he nearly suffered more heartache against the plucky rookie. 

The 37-year-old snatched the final leg to progress to the next stage. 

Saturday Recap

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Afternoon Session

Men's first round:

Peter Sajwani (Swe) 3-0 Sam Head (Eng)*

Martin Adams (Eng) 3-1 Jan Dekker (Ned)

Martin Phillips (Wal) 0-3 Madars Razma (Lat)

Women's first round:

Deta Hedman (Eng) 1-2 Lisa Ashton (Eng)

Evening Session

Men's first round:

David Cameron (Can) 2-3 Michel van der Horst (Ned)*

Eddy Sims (Aus) 1-3 Cedric Waegemans (Bel)*

Scott Mitchell (Eng) 3-2 Tony O'Shea (Eng)

Women's first round:

Zoe Jones (Eng) 2-0 Sarah Brent (Eng)

All eyes were on the rematch of last year's women's final between top seed Deta Hedman and defending champion Lisa Ashton, and just like in 2014, Ashton emerged victorious with a close, hard-fought win.

The 44-year-old from Bolton set the tone with a 180 in the first set and played at her usual, lightning-fast pace, putting tons of pressure on Hedman early. The Dark Destroyer came into the tournament as the favourite after a fantastic 2014 season, but in a repeat of last year's final, she struggled on the doubles early.

That changed in the second set, courtesy of a phenomenal 152 checkout to level the match, as the 55-year-old appeared to be seizing momentum. But that great finish was immediately answered by a 156 of Ashton, who comfortably saw off the challenge from Hedman in the deciding set.

Ashton ended the match with an average of 81.72, nearly 10 points higher than her rival. With Hedman now out of the way, the road appears wide open for Ashton to successfully defend her title.

Martin Adams avenged last year's quarter-final loss against Jan Dekkers with a 3-1 win on Saturday, taking advantage of a tremendous meltdown of the Dutchman to grab momentum at just the right time.

Tied in the third set, Dekkers appeared to have the upper hand until he missed an incredible six consecutive darts at the double, and Adams stepped up, seized momentum and never looked back.

After the match, he told BBC Sport he was playing his "best darts in years." The third seed is among the favourites to win the vacant men's world title, and by getting past Dekkers, Adams may have just gathered the confidence he needed to make a run.

Peter Sawjani easily beat Sam Head in the first preliminary match of the day, while Madars Razma produced the first minor upset of the tournament, knocking out Wales' Martin Phillips, who came in as the fifth seed.

The evening session saw some of the qualifiers go head-to-head before fourth seed Scott Mitchell squared off against Tony O'Shea, and the favourite needed a decider to beat his compatriot, winning 3-2.

The final set went all the way to a deciding leg, with O'Shea winning the throw for the darts. He couldn't capitalise on that momentum, however, as Mitchell took a commanding lead in the final leg and booked his spot in the next round despite missing match darts.

The Netherlands' Michel van der Horst had much difficulty against Canadian qualifier David Cameron, needing a decider to advance to the next round. The Dutchman took a 2-0 lead and had multiple darts to close out the match before the decider was even forced, but Cameron refused to go down without a fight.

Twice he fought back from deficits to tie things up at 2-2, and in the final set, both players missed several crucial darts for the win. In the end, it was the more experienced Van der Horst who pulled through, as the two left the stage to a standing ovation from the Lakeside crowd.

Cedric Waegemans made quick work of Australia's Eddy Sims, and young talent Zoe Jones impressed against Sarah Brent. The Pink Panther averaged more than 10 points better than her opponent on her way to a 2-0 win, announcing her arrival on the biggest stage in emphatic fashion.