"I'm gutted with the way I played" - Lisa Ashton into semi-finals but realises improvement is needed

Lisa Ashton has kept her hopes of a fifth World Championship title alive. The 'Lancashire Rose' is into the semi-finals at Lakeside after a 2-1 win over last year's runner-up, Kirsty Hutchinson.

It's fair to say that Ashton made hard work of her victory. Dropping the first set, Ashton had her back to the wall straight away. Although she regained control, winning the second set, she then missed multiple matchdarts before eventually securing the win with a 34 dart leg. "I'm gutted with the way I played," Ashton admitted in her post-match interview.

On the double trouble both players were having in the final leg, Ashton had a simple answer. "I think we both tried to hard. Because it was so important wasn't it, but I just thought, 'oh please just hit it, just hit it' and finally I did. So I'm happy to get through."

"I haven't played for quite a while and yeah, it shows. But it's there hopefully now. I've definitely got to step up with more good legs, they've got a to be consistent all way through my next game," Ashton assesses.

Waiting for Ashton in the semi-finals, is Aileen de Graaf and the Dutchwoman took a dominant win over Lorraine Winstanley on Friday. With the format becoming longer too, Ashton remains confident. "I prefer the longer formats. This best of three you can't really get into it but the longer format now you can really dig in. Even if you have a bad start you can still fight back."