Saturday 14 January 2017

was at a loss to explain his poor form despite beating Dennis Labanauskas 5-2 to reach the BDO semi-finals.


Glen Durrant wasn't pleased with his quarter-final per

As he had been when surviving a real scare against Paul Hogan on Wednesday, Durrant was behind early, but once he levelled the scores at 2-2 there only looked likely to be one winner.
While failing to find his best darts, Durrant ultimately came through as a comfortable winner as he remains on course for his first world title, one he's been favourite for since last year's semi-final defeat.
The top seed, however, was visibly disappointed with his display, this time showing no signs of the relief which followed his victory in the last 16.
"I'm so tight in the shoulders," he confessed to BT Sport. "I want to make a statement - I'm just not playing very well, and I can't work out why."
Durrant told presenter Matt Smith that he couldn't explain why he failed to average 90 and looks so far short of the player who has dominated the circuit for the best part of two years.
"My preparation was really good again today, I felt good on the stage. I'm just putting too much pressure on myself."
Next for Durrant is a semi-final clash with Jamie Hughes, who beat three-time champion Martin Adams 5-4 in a classic.
Adams, who battled prostate cancer in 2016 and was only given the all-clear in November, was for once not among the favourites as he went in search of his fourth title at Lakeside.
But for the first two sets of this quarter-final clash on Friday, it was Wolfie at his best, as he hit six doubles from six attempts to open up a 2-0 lead, dropping just one leg in the process.
Hughes hit back, though, winning four of the next five sets to move ahead 4-3, only for Adams to show great resolve and force a decider.
In the final set, Adams was again the heavier scorer - 12 throws of 100-plus to Hughes' three including two maximums - but a succession of missed opportunities saw Hughes take it 3-1 for a 5-4 success.
The fourth seed will be underdog against Durrant, who beat him when they met in the second round two years ago, as both men bid to go further than their respective last four defeats in 2016.
Darryl Fitton booked his ticket to the semi-finals after a gripping 5-4 win over Geert De Vos.
The popular Englishman previously made the last four back in 2005 and 2009 but he'll now need to defeat Dutch star Danny Noppert if he's to reach his first Lakeside final in his 15th appearance here.
Fitton averaged a shade under 90 in a hard-fought contest in which he also managed the maximum 170 checkout to thrill the crowd - although that did come in the eighth set which he lost as de Vos forced a decider.
With either player needing to win by two clear legs, it was the 54-year-old who held his nerve when coming back from 2-1 down to win three legs on the spin and clinch his semi-final berth.
Fitton was never behind in sets but de Vos had shown tremendous fighting spirit to come from 4-2 down while the Belgian also managed three ton+ checkouts in the match - including a fine 158 - and finished with an average of 87.12.
Noppert produced arguably the performance of the tournament so far as he held off a fightback from two-time champion Scott Waites.
Noppert won the first two sets and looked comfortable at 4-1, only for Waites to find his range and produce a succession of devastating finishes.
The Yorkshireman hit double 18 for a 144 to take set six and added a 121 checkout en route to set seven, but to Noppert's credit he regathered himself to hold throw and close out a 5-3 win.
The Lakeside debutant closed with finished of 86, 87 and 96 and is now just a narrow second-favourite to Durrant.
Lisa Ashton further underlined her favourtism in the women's competition by thrashing third seed Aileen de  Graaf 2-0 in double quick time to reach her fourth Lakeside final.

The Bolton thrower has yet to drop a set and will no doubt be odds-on to claim her third title regardless of whether she faces Corrine Hammond or Anastasia Dobromyslova on Saturday evening.

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