BDO World Darts Championship: 50/1 tip Jim Williams books quarter-final clash with Glen Durrant
Jim Williams booked his place in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship - but only after surviving three match darts against Conan Whitehead.
The ninth seed, who was tipped up at 50/1 by our in-form darts expert Chris Hammer pre-tournament, will now face defending champion Glen Durrant in the last eight.
In a thrilling high-quality battle in which both players averaged over 90, Williams fought back from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 before Whitehead forced a deciding set and then looked on the brink of victory when taking the opening two legs with the help of a 117 checkout.
The Englishman was 57 points from the quarter-finals when Williams took out a spectacular 161 checkout, finishing on the bullseye, to give himself hope.
Whitehead then spurned three match darts in the next leg as the Welshman levelled the set before taking the next two for the match.
In the evening session, the unseeded Michael Unterbuchner continued his dream run with a fine 4-2 victory over Martin Phillips, averaging 88.88 in the process, while in the final match of the day Richard Veenstra romped to a 4-0 victory over Geert de Vos.
In the women's event, world number one Deta Hedman brushed aside Sharon Prins 2-0 and she'll next meet tournament favourite and defending champion Lisa Ashton, who beat Fallon Sherrock by the same scoreline.
Trina Gulliver avenged her 2017 defeat to Aileen de Graaf by claiming a dominant 2-0 victory as she remained on course for a potential 11th world title.
Next up is former champion Anastasia Dobromyslova following the Russian's commanding 2-0 win over Lorraine Winstanley.
Chris Hammer's most likely chance at securing his followers more profits is BDO number one Mark McGeeney, who was 25/1 before the tournament began. Having got through two early tough games against Martin Adams and Danny Noppert, he'll next meet Wayne Warren on Friday.
Meanwhile, Justin van Tergouw defeated Killian Heffernan 3-1 to become the world youth champion, finishing the match with a fine average of 93.04.
Thursday results
Afternoon Session (1pm)
Second Round (Best of 7 sets)
- Justin van Tergouw 3-1 Killian Heffernan (Youth Final)
- Sharon Prins (8) 0-2 Deta Hedman (1) (best of 3 sets)
- Jim Williams (9) 4-3 Conan Whitehead
- Trina Gulliver 2-0 Aileen de Graaf (best of 3 sets)
Evening Session
Second Round (Best of 7 sets)
- Fallon Sherrock 0-2 Lisa Ashton (4) (best of 3 sets)
- Martin Phillips 2-4 Michael Unterbuchner
- Anastasia Dobromyslova (6) 2-0 Lorraine Winstanley (3) (best of 3 sets)
- Richard Veenstra (11) 4-0 Geert de Vos (6)
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