BDO World Championship - Preview
Here is all you need to know about the 2018 Lakeside BDO World Championships!
The 2018 Lakeside World Darts Championship is just around the corner, it's sure to be yet another fantastic tournament packed with drama and high-quality tungsten. The defending men's champion Glen Durrant emerges as the favourite to defend his crown, the Teesside-based star will start the defence of his title on Sunday afternoon as he takes on Gary Robson or Pengiran Mohamed who will contest a preliminary round match on Saturday.
The defending and three-time Ladies world champion Lisa Ashton will start the defence of her title on Saturday afternoon as she is embroiled in a tough clash with Rhian Griffiths of Wales who has been producing some great performances as of late and it should be a closely contested round one match.
The first round Men's draw produced some fantastic matches; Martin Adams takes on Mark McGeeney in the opening match of the tournament on Saturday afternoon in what could be potentially the game of the first round and maybe even the tournament. Believe it or not, the pair have only met twice in a ranking match with McGeeney enjoying a 4-0 whitewash win over 'Wolfie' back in August at the Belgium Open.
Another player to look out for at Lakeside has to be Jamie Hughes, the Tipton ace has reached the Semi-Finals over the last two years and he will be looking to move one step further as he looks to reach his first World championship final. The number 3 seed Hughes faces either the Canadian David Cameron or the German Michael Unterbuchner who will meet each other in a preliminary match. Hughes has been in some good form in 2017 and has underachieved really despite reaching the last four for two years on-the-spin.
Ross Montgomery and Scott Waites is another tie which has all the makings of a classic. The pair have been embroiled in some tasty match-ups in the past, there is no separating them in the head-to-head statistics, but Montgomery has enjoyed victories in their last two encounters including a 4-0 victory over Waites in the 2015 Lakeside World Championship.
Another player who has really hit some form is Jim Williams of Wales, Williams has yet to fulfill his potential on the world stage, he reached the final of the Finder Darts Masters in December as he lost out Danny Noppert. Williams opens up his 2018 Lakeside campaign against either Dennis Nilsson or Jeffrey Sparidaans. Whichever one of those players Williams faces, it's guaranteed to be a high-quality affair.
Nilsson has produced some great performances in 2017 and Sparidaans is tipped for the top by many people in the Netherlands, he comes from the same place as Benito van De Pas and the Tilburg-based star will be looking for a good run. Danny Noppert who reached last year's final hasn't had the best of years in terms of wins on the circuit, but after his victory at the Finder Darts Masters he could be a force to be reckoned with, he faces Joe Chaney of the USA.
The Scot Cameron Menzies is a player who a lot of people are looking forward to watching for the first time at Lakeside. Menzies has had a fantastic year on the circuit as he enters the tournament as the number eight seed. After winning the Scottish Open and the Scottish Masters, Menzies propelled himself up the rankings which gave him the opportunity to represent the British Darts Organisation at the Grand Slam. Menzies was unlucky to be eliminated in the group stages., He will be a major threat at Lakeside, taking on Conan Whitehead who could prove to be a tough customer as he himself has had a great couple of years on the circuit.
Now, back to the Ladies. This is arguably one of the closest world championships in the Ladies section that we have seen in recent times with so much quality in the draw. Corrine Hammond of course reached the final last year and has had another great year on the tour, the Aussie takes on Fallon Sherrock in the first round which should be a cracker as both players are capable of producing world-class tungsten.
DPC sponsored player Vicky Pruim takes on "The Golden Girl" , Trina Gulliver in the first round and we are expecting great things from Vicky!
Deta Hedman has won hundreds of titles around Europe as she makes a bid to win her first world title, she takes on Rachna David on Saturday evening as she looks to taste success on the World stage for the first time in her illustrious career.
There was some breaking news ahead of the tournament as James Hurrell announced that he had to pull out of the tournament due to ill health. Taking his place is the Welshman Richie Edwards. There will be no changes to the tournament bracket following the change. The 2018 Lakeside World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on both Channel 4 and BT Sport.