BDO World Darts Championship 2019 schedule: Sunday 6 January

Lisa Ashton's reign is over, with . But the BDO World Championship has plenty more thrills and spills in store. First up, a former Lakeside champion starts a march towards the title. Scott Waites won in 2013, and again in 2016. The three-year cycle suggests 2019 could be very good indeed for the ninth seed. Yet the Yorkshireman can't get ahead of himself. Jeffrey van Egdom may not have experience on his side, but the debutant has enjoyed a good season and will be eyeing a giant-killing. Brian Løkken and Krzysztof Kciuk face off in the second tie of the afternoon, before Deta Hedman steps up for her tenth tilt at the Lakeside title. Easily one of the best players never to become BDO world champion, for some reason the Lakeside has always been Hedman's Kryptonite. With Ashton gone, her odds have improved. But Maria O'Brien is a seasoned veteran - who almost reached the PDC World Championship, but for Ashton's intervention. The Dark Destroyer has only fallen at the first hurdle twice before. But this is a serious banana skin for the third seed. Richard Veenstra will fancy his chances at the Lakeside this year. In 2016 and 2017 he lost to the eventual runners-up, before a stunning 5-4 reverse against Michael Unterbuchner 12 months ago. Now the Finder Darts Masters finalist has a side of the draw where Unterbuchner, fourth seed Wesley Harms and top seed Mark McGeeney are all beatable. Flyers will want to first glide past the Undertaker, Nigel Heydon, who on Saturday to see off Jim Widmayer.

The evening session opens with Roger Janssen meeting Wouter Vaes in the preliminary round, before two former Lakeside finalists do battle. The pair come into this in differing form; Fallon Sherrock is now a bona fide BDO major champion, and Corinne Hammond was unable to claim a spot among the seeds. That said, both players have the ability to win this one, and beat Hedman or O'Brien in the quarter-finals. Perhaps, for one of them, another final is in the offing.
The World Master, Adam Smith-Neale, opens his campaign in the preliminary round. It's because of that Bridlington triumph that he even has a spot here in Frimley Green. But given that performance, it's fair to assume that Smith-Neale can do the business on the biggest stage. Glen Durrant awaits in round one but first Mark McGrath, the Leeds-born New Zealander who defeated PDC world finalist Michael Smith at the Auckland Darts Masters in 2018, must be dealt with.
An all-Welsh clash rounds off the second day of play at the Lakeside. Wayne Warren put in a stunning performance in 2018, seeing off Dutch seeds Wesley Harms and Willem Mandigers. It was only in the most excruciating of circumstances that Mark McGeeney could halt him in his tracks. A potential shot at fifth seed Michael Unterbuchner could be on the cards. But Warren knows all too well that Mark Layton, five years his senior, is just about the most experienced debutant the Lakeside has seen. The Grinder will push Warren all the way, and he'll need to draw on last year's excellent showings to progress.
Click here for more information about the 2019 BDO Lakeside World Championship.

Scott Waites (86.55) 3-1 (82.08) Jeffrey Van Egdom
Brian Lokken (77.16) 1-3 (79.38) Krzysztof Kciuk
Deta Hedman (67.53) 0-2 (70.80) Maria O’Brien
Richard Veenstra (89.67) 3-2 (93.09) Nigel Heydon

19:00 Roger Janssen Vs Wouter Vaes 20:15 – Fallon Sherrock Vs Corrine Hammond 20:45 – Mark McGrath Vs Adam Smith-Neale 22:00 - Wayne Warren Vs Mark Layton