BDO World Darts Championship 2016: Scores and Results from Thursday
Joshua Richardson was crowned the youth champion at the 2016 BDO World Darts Championship as he beat Jordan Boyce 3-2 on Thursday, while reigning men's champion Scott Mitchell beat Mark McGeeney in a dramatic sudden death to reach the quarter-finals.
Mitchell will face Richard Veenstra after he made short work of Martin Atkins in Thursday's evening session.
Nine-time champion Trina Gulliver made it through to the final four of the women's competition as she beat two-time defending champion Lisa Ashton. Meanwhile, Ann-Louise Peters continued her excellent run as she also progressed to the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over seventh seed Zoe Jones.
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Aileen de Graaf and Deta Hedman will be joining them after beating Anca Zijlstra and Lorraine Winstanley respectively.
Here are all the results from the day's action and a closer look at how it all played out:
| Player | Score | Player |
| Joshua Richardson | 3-2 | Jordan Boyce |
| Player | Score | Player |
| Scott Mitchell | 4-3 | Mark McGeeney |
| Martin Atkins | 0-4 | Richard Veenstra |
| Scott Waites | 4-3 | Geert de Vos |
| Player | Score | Player |
| Aileen De Graaf | 2-1 | Anca Zijlstra |
| Deta Hedman | 2-0 | Lorraine Winstanley |
| Ann-Louise Peters | 2-1 | Zoe Jones |
| Trina Gulliver | 2-1 | Lisa Ashton |
Thursday Evening Recap
De Graaf got off to a strong start as she raced to the first set 3-0, before Zijlstra edged the second set 3-2 thanks to a 180 and an impressive 82 checkout on the bullseye.
Some missed doubles in the third set gave her compatriot a further glimmer of hope, but De Graaf held out to take the match 2-1.
Hedman had an easier time against Winstanley. The Englishwoman's excellent 100 checkout was one of the highlights of the match, but that leg was the only she won as Hedman waltzed to a 2-0 win.
Veenstra was equally dominant as he swept aside Atkins with consummate ease, per BDO Darts:
Per sports journalist Lewis Smith, the Englishman was helpless in the face off the Dutchman's supreme performance:
After edging the first set against Scott Waites, Geert de Vos won the second 3-0 and showed remarkable consistency in hitting the bull:
Sports reporter Scott Smith hailed the quality of darts on show:
Waites proved Smith's assessment to be correct as he launched a stunning comeback:
With the momentum firmly behind him, Waites completed his incredible reversal, winning the final set 3-0.
The Englishman will face No. 1 seed Glen Durrant in the quarter-finals. Beating Durrant will be a tough ask, but if he can show the same resilience as he did here, Waites could just secure a place in the semi-final.
Thursday Afternoon Recap
Youngsters Boyce and Richardson kicked off the day's proceedings, and their final did not disappoint. Boyce twice took a one-set lead only to be pegged back each time by Richardson to force a decisive fifth.
With momentum on his side, the latter showed remarkable composure to close out the win, per BDO Darts:
Journalists Darren Plant and Joshua Smith were particularly impressed with the manner of his victory:
Their match was only a prelude to Mitchell's epic showdown with McGeeney, though. The pair produced an incredibly memorable contest in which tensions ran high and the momentum shifted back and forth throughout.
Twice the Gladiator went ahead before Mitchell fought back, and Scotty Dog got his nose in front at 3-2. McGeeney showed incredible determination to mount a comeback of his own and forced sudden death with the pair at five legs apiece in the final set.
As Live Darts demonstrated, McGeeney wasted multiple chances to win, and his profligacy at the oche was duly punished by the clinical defending champion:
In the women's championship, Peters put in a strong showing as she saw off Jones' challenge.
The Danish Diamond took the opening set before Jones fought back to level the scores at 1-1. Peters responded magnificently to the setback to seal the deciding set with ease thanks to sublime 140 and 160 finishes.
Two-time defending champion Ashton endured a torrid start to her match with nine-time winner Gulliver as she missed a staggering 19 darts at the double and virtually handed her opponent a 3-0 win in the first set.
A much better showing in the second saw Ashton equalise and, in the recurring theme of the afternoon, set up a final set to decide the match. However, her poor throwing at the doubles proved costly once again as she was unable to trouble Gulliver in the final set.
Gulliver is an incredibly experienced competitor at Lakeside, and after knocking out the biggest opponent standing in her way of the title, she could well go on to win the tournament for an incredible 10th time.
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