BDO World Championship 2020 Day Seven preview and order of play: Last Eight lock horns at The Indigo

The 2020 BDO World Championship enters its business end at Indigo at The O2 on Friday, with the Men’s Quarter-Finals and Ladies Semi-Finals taking centre stage.

The BDO’s show-piece event started out with 40 men and 16 women battling it out for the prestigious titles, now the remaining hopefuls will be determined to move a step closer to glory this weekend.

Perhaps the pick of the men’s Quarter-Finals on current form sees number two seed Jim Williams take on man of the moment Paul Hogan in the evening session.

Williams is bidding to add this title to his World Trophy triumph last year and become the first Welsh winner since Mark Webster in 2008.

The 35-year-old battled his way through a tense last-set decider against Gary Stone in Round One before cruising to a 4-0 whitewash of Ryan Hogarth in the Last 16.

He now faces a formidable test against one of the most experienced ‘amateurs’ in the sport who has won through to his third BDO World Championship Quarter-Final since 1995.

Hogan, who reached the Last 16 of the PDC UK Open in 2017 and 2018, has gone a step further than at Lakeside two years ago when he came within a dart of knocking out eventual champion Glen Durrant.

The 56-year-old registered the highest average of the tournament so far (99.69) in defeating Martijn Kleermaker 4-1 on Thursday night to follow up a First Round rout of Adam Smith-Neale and a Preliminary Round victory over Brian Raman.

Another closely-matched tie sees former champions Scott Waites and Scott Mitchell collide in the final match of the evening.

2015 champion Scott Mitchell reacts (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Both players have tasted success at Lakeside, with Waites lifting the trophy in 2013 and 2016, sandwiching Mitchell’s success in 2015, and both will be keen to become the first player to be crowned champion at the new venue.

Mitchell averted a potential banana skin against 14-year-old Leighton Bennett in Round One before whitewashing two-time semi-finalist Michael Unterbuchner 4-0, while Waites edged out three-time champion Martin Adams in a deciding set before battling back to deny top seed Wesley Harms 4-2.

The pair cannot be separated from their 12 previous meetings, having claimed six wins apiece, with this their first encounter in a BDO World Championship.

Wayne Warren, the oldest player left standing in the competition at 57, aims to progress to his first Semi-Final at the fifth attempt when he takes on Dutch ace Chris Landman in the afternoon session.

Warren is appearing in his second Quarter-Final in the space of three years, while Landman has prevailed in two last-set deciders to break new ground in this historic competition and now carries the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.

Two players enjoying dream debuts so far face off in another finely-poised contest as Mario Vandenbogaerde meets David Evans.

Vandenbogaerde has dropped just one set en route to the Last Eight stage and is aiming to become Belgium’s first-ever World Darts Champion, while former PDC Challenge Tour event winner Evans has impressed in dispatching Nick Fullwell and third seed Richard Veenstra – averaging 95.35 in the latter.

The first Women’s Semi-Final sees Lisa Ashton step up her quest for a fifth world title when she takes on Australia’s Corrine Hammond in a repeat of the 2017 final.

The evening session then sees reigning champion Mikuru Suzuki looking to maintain her unbeaten record in the World Championship by ending the dream debut run of 16-year-old Beau Greaves – who is vying to become the youngest-ever senior World Champion.

The action gets underway from 1pm GMT, with Men’s Quarter-Finals to be contested over the best of seven sets, best of five legs per set and Ladies Semi-Finals best of three sets.

A tie-break will be in operation in Men’s matches, where the final set must be won by two clear legs. If the score reaches 5-5, the 11th leg will be sudden-death.

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BDO World Championship 2020 Match Schedule

Friday January 10

Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Wayne Warren v Chris Landman (QF)
Lisa Ashton v Corrine Hammond (Women’s SF)
Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Evans (QF)

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Jim Williams v Paul Hogan (QF)
Mikuru Suzuki v Beau Greaves (Women’s SF)
Scott Waites v Scott Mitchell (QF)