Agonising opening success for Beaton

The former BDO champion looked set to fall at the first hurdle for the second straight year at the Alexandra Palace when he lost the first two sets in a hurry.

Caris hit a 107 finish to take a 1-0 lead and then doubled his advantage when he hit double top for the third time.

The Swede began the third set with a 13-darter but could not finish the job off, failing with three darts for the match as he seemingly became sidetracked by some heckling from the bumper crowd.

The misses proved costly with Beaton going on a run of five straight legs to take the contest into a deciding set.

Beaton needed six legs to finally progress, levelling matters at 2-2 with double 16 before taking out 61 to end a see-saw battle.

Beaton later revealed that the pain was not just confined to his support, with a couple of pieces of broken bone in his knee forcing the 1996 Lakeside winner to undergo keyhole surgery ahead of his second-round match against Simon Whitlock.

“The surgeon took out a couple of pieces of broken bone that had been moving around inside and giving me a lot of pain,” said Beaton.

“I’m on crutches now but hopefully not for too long.

“I have nine days before my second game in the World Championships and am hoping to be fit enough to put on a good performance.”

 Players are being invited to enter the Holly Bush Individual Darts League, which is to be held fortnightly starting from February.

To enter the league, contact Allan on 07980 896656 or call in at the Holly Bush for an application form.