Durrant through despite big scare

REIGNING champion Glen Durrant survived a major scare before booking a quarter-final place in the BDO World Championship at Lakeside on Thursday night.

Durrant, who is bidding for a hat-trick of world titles, raced into a three-set lead against fellow Englishman Scott Baker.

But Baker produced a storming fightback, levelling the match at 3-3 before Durrant called on all his reserves of experience to take the deciding set three legs to one.

Scott Mitchell, the 2015 world champion, cruised into the last eight for the third time in his career with a 4-0 victory over Poland’s Krzysztof Kciuk.

Dorset-based Mitchell never relinquished control after taking the first set 3-2, and Kciuk could find no way into the match as his opponent’s greater scoring and finishing prowess saw him home.

Northern Ireland’s Kyle McKinstry reached his first Lakeside quarter-final after a match that went the full seven-set distance against Canadian David Cameron. McKinstry took the first two sets, but then lost three in a row before regaining his composure to edge an attritional encounter 4-3.

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Leighton Bennett has become the youngest-ever winner of the BDO World Youth title, beating Scotland’s Nathan Girvan.

Bennett beat his 16-year-old opponent 3-0 in the final at Frimley Green, ending on a 121 checkout with a bullseye finish.

“I’m just over the moon,” said Bennett. “Winning this trophy means the world to me.

“Just being here is a dream come true, especially winning it. I just went up there to enjoy it.”