BDO World Darts Championship 2016: Saturday Scores, Highlights and Results
Trina Gulliver finally won her 10th Women's BDO World Darts Championship title on Saturday, beating Deta Hedman to win the tournament for the first time since 2011.
Golden Girl is widely regarded as the best female darts player in the history of the sport, and a 10th world title only adds to her impressive resume. She needed a decider to get past Hedman, who put in a courageous performance and made sure the crowd at Lakeside were thoroughly entertained.
In the men's semi-finals, Scott Waites and Jeff Smith booked their spot for Sunday's final, beating Jamie Hughes and Richard Veenstra, respectively.
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Here's a look at the full results from Saturday's action:
| Trina Gulliver | 3-2 | Deta Hedman |
| Scott Waites | 6-1 | Jamie Hughes |
| Jeff Smith | 6-5 | Richard Veenstra |
Recap
Hedman came agonisingly close to finally winning her first Lakeside title, but the Jamaican-born veteran had to settle for her third runners-up finish as Gulliver turned back the clock and grabbed her 10th title.
The final was a thrilling affair of the highest quality, with both players recording multiple ton finishes. Per darts blogger Tungsten Tickle, it's hard not to feel for the Dark Destroyer after such a wonderful performance:
Hedman took the lead with a superb 118 checkout, but veteran Gulliver immediately restored order with a sensational 133 of her own. Both missed multiple darts for the third before Hedman eventually regained the lead, but once again, Gulliver broke back to set up a decider.
Golden Girl managed to break throw in the second leg of the decider and eventually found double 18 to clinch the title, to the delight of Winmau darts' official Twitter account:
Lisa Ashton and Anastasia Dobromyslova have dominated the women's tournament in the last four years, but Gulliver remains the golden standard all players look up to, and she showed it on Saturday.
Hughes went through every athlete's worst nightmare against Waites as he couldn't find his rhythm early and never recovered in a 6-1 loss. Yozza finished with a pedestrian average under 80 and never seemed likely to reach the final after losing the first five sets.
Per darts blogger Dan Dawson, he didn't look comfortable from the opening dart:
Former Lakeside champion Waites has struggled a bit during the 2016 tournament and only qualified for the semi-final after spirited comebacks against Geert de Vos and top seed Glen Durrant, but he looked excellent on Saturday and took full advantage of Yozza's struggles.
He didn't even have to be at his best on the doubles as Hughes fell behind in just about every leg and gave his opponent multiple opportunities to check out.
Per the BDO's official Twitter account, he practically stormed off the stage during the final break in an attempt to clear his head:
It seemed to work, as his play improved slightly in the sixth set, but Waites took care of business in the seventh, booking his spot in the final.
He was glad he didn't need another big comeback to win, as he told BBC's Phil Cartwright: “That seemed a little bit more straightforward than the other two days. Jamie's such a fantastic player and he didn't perform today. I'll probably keep one eye on the other semi-final, but now I've got a 50-50 chance of winning this title again.”
The second semi-final of the day proved to be far more competitive, as Smith and Veenstra served up a thriller of a contest, with Smith eventually emerging victorious.
The two traded blows throughout the night, with neither player able to grab a decisive lead at any point. Smith thought he had it in the bag in the decider as he took a two-leg lead, but Veenstra answered right back to force a tiebreak.
The Silencer came agonisingly close to a nine-darter, missing the eighth, but it was still good enough to grab the win and a spot in the final.
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