BDO World Championship Preview - Thursday, afternoon session

The three BDO World Championship events are all staged together for the only time this week. First comes the World Youth final, followed by two women's second round ties, and one game from the men's event.

The World Youth final sees defending champion Justin van Tergouw take on Killian Heffernan. The young Dutchman has already been touted as the next Michael van Gerwen, and he certainly tore up the youth scene in 2017. The World Cup and Europe Cup holder even progressed to the last 16 of the PDC World Youth Championship, beating Rowby-John Rodriguez on the way, before losing 6-5 to eventual finalist Josh Payne. Van Tergouw averaged 88 on the Lakeside stage last year when he beat Nathan Girvan, and is the massive favourite. But Irish rising star Heffernan may have something to say about that.

Deta Hedman admitted that her 'A-game' was nowhere to be found in the first round. Luckily for her, it wasn't required. Rachna David was swatted aside, and so Hedman's quest for a first ever world title continues. Eighth seed Sharon Prins will be a much tougher opponent. The Dutchwoman was given a challenge by Maria O'Brien, particularly in the second set, but also procured a 2-0 victory. Prins goes into the tie in better form, but Hedman is a cool customer on the doubles. With games now at the best of five sets, victories must be hard-earned. Whoever wins this one will probably have to go the distance to do so. The winner meets Lisa Ashton or Fallon Sherrock in the semi-finals.

For a very short while, Conan Whitehead was the biggest giant-killer at the Lakeside. Then Michael Unterbuchner upstaged him an hour later by beating Jamie Hughes. But nothing could diminish Whitehead's achievement, which was well-earned and brilliantly taken. The 3-1 defeat of Cameron Menzies was achieved with a 92 average and some excellent finishing, and the Barbarian will be a serious hurdle for Jim Williams to overcome. The ninth seed, himself new to the Lakeside scene, produced a nervy 3-2 win over Dennis Nilsson. That match featured 87 missed darts at a double, 40 of which came from Williams. That contributed to an 81 average that, if the Welshman replicates in the second round, will surely see him eliminated.
The winner faces the intriguing task of deciding Glen Durrant's future, with the world champion promising to go to Q-School if he loses his quarter-final match, or stay in the BDO until his retirement, should he reach the semi-finals.

The lower half of the women's draw looks impossible to predict. Lorraine Winstanley and Anastasia Dobromyslova, two class acts, face each other. In the first tie from that half, second seed Aileen de Graaf takes on the seventh seed. But said number seven is the ten-time world champion Trina Gulliver, the greatest player the women's game has ever seen. It was Gulliver who played the better of the two in the first round as well, beating Vicky Pruim 2-1 with an 81 average. De Graaf only averaged 72 against Paula Jacklin, but did win all six legs in a 2-0 battering. It is more than likely that the Dutchwoman will up her game against her English counterpart. Like Winstanley versus Dobromyslova, this one is tough to call.