Beaton’s pain is Whitlock’s gain

Beaton, who underwent keyhole surgery to remove pieces of broken bone from his knee before the match on Wednesday, was defeated 4-1 by Australian Simon Whitlock who has just returned to the sport after breaking his ankle in October.

The former competition finalist made Beaton pay for missed chances to take the first, hitting back from 2-0 down to edge the set, and win the second without reply before Beaton took three successive legs to edge the third in a decider.

However, Beaton paid the price for failing to set up a double in the fourth set’s decider, and instead of pulling back to two-all found himself 3-1 down before Whitlock sealed victory in the next, setting up a third round clash with Michael van Gerwen on Thursday.

* Players are being invited to enter the Holly Bush Individual Darts League which starts in February.

To enter call in at the pub or contact 07980 896656.