Scott Mitchell hails "interesting" BDO changes

The BDO's recent move to remove historic restrictions on PDC Tour Card holders has shaken things up in both codes. The changes imposed by new chairman Derek Jacklin also cleared female players to enter qualifying for the PDC World Championship, while none of the BDO corral will be prevented from entering Q-School. 2015 Lakeside world champion Mitchell is encouraged by the move, though is still waiting to see what comes of it.
"It's an interesting announcement," Mitchell said in an interview with Live Darts.
"I think it's an announcement that's moving things forward and trying to make sure that there are no limitations from our side.
"We have a new board, they've only been in three and a half weeks and it's made a bit of a stir.

The increased freedom of choice for players like him has the Dorset thrower feeling positive.
"I think it's too early to tell the way the reshuffle has gone but the early signs are that maybe we're heading in a direction that we all want to be going in," Mitchell said.
"I don't think the old BDO board were particularly bad, it's just they couldn't get going what they wanted to get going.
"Sometimes you need fresh faces and fresh ideas and I think only time will tell."

Mitchell has already crossed codes before, albeit briefly, in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions of the Grand Slam. He is likely to be in Wolverhampton again for the 2018 edition. "I haven't been confirmed yet so I don't really know but I'm in the right place at the moment," he admitted. "We've got a couple of tournaments left but fingers crossed. It's always lovely to come to the Grand Slam, it's a really massive event for us. "The fans love the fact that we get over there and have a go against some of the household names you see every week. "We enjoy it. We love a challenge and it's something we strive to qualify for."