James Richardson clinical in reaching Last 16 at Lakeside; Anca Zijlstra first seed to fall in Women's tournament

James Richardson has become the first player to secure a spot in the last sixteen of the WDF World Championship at Lakeside. 'Ruthless' recorded a decisive victory over Peter Machin in the second round.

The first set played a key role in the match including a nine-dart attempt from Machin. After two good legs of their own from both players, a fifth leg was needed to determine who would walk away with the set. Richardson was not out in six darts, but Machin failed to capitalize despite two 140-scores. Thus, the first set went to Richardson with a 19-darter.

He then won the second set 3-0, thanks in part to a 14-darter in the second leg of that set. He broke Machin in the second leg of set three with a 13-darter and then put a 3-0 final score on the scoreboard with a 21-darter.

The women's tournament then proved to be quickly over for Anca Zijlstra, who had a bye in the first round. She missed too many doubles in the first set, which went 3-1 to her American opponent Paula Murphy. Set two went 3-2 to Murphy, who became the first woman to reach the quarterfinals of the women's tournament.