Hughes To Hunt Down BDO At Lakeside

Attentions switch from the Alexander Palace to the Lakeside for tungsten fans this week, and Jaymes Monte has picked out his best bets.

Form
Form doesn’t play quite as big a role in the BDO as it perhaps does in the PDC, largely because of the non-professional status of all of the players within the organisation.

However, there is one player, who has taken the BDO by storm in his debut year that cannot be ignored.

Jamie Hughes reached the final of the World Masters in October beating Alan Norris 3-2 (from 2-0 down) in the quarter finals, then Martin Adams 6-5 (from 5-2 down) in the semis before losing to Martin Phillips in the final.

But that didn’t deter the 28-year-old rookie as he then went on to win the prestigious Zuiderduin Masters at the beginning of December, beating Tony O’Shea and Jan Dekker en route to the final where he beat Gary Robson 5-0.

We don’t have a defending champion at this year’s Lakeside after 2014 winner Stephen Bunting chose to move across the divide to the PDC. But The Bullet’s success in the professional ranks has shown that at the top end of the spectrum the quality in the BDO is nothing to be sniggered at.

James Wilson therefore arrives at Frimley Green as the number one seed having surged up the rankings with a run to the final of the 2013 World Masters and then lifting the trophy at the 2013 Zuiderduin Masters. The Englishman also added the 2014 World Trophy to his collection in the past 12 months but has really struggled to put any notable results on the board in the second half of 2014.

Three-time champion Martin Adams is always a popular player at Lakeside and comes into this one in decent nick following runs to the semi-finals of the World Masters and then the quarter-finals of the Zuiderduin Masters recently, while crowd favourite Tony O’Shea, who continues to search for that elusive maiden world title to round off a fabulous career, also looks to be on top of his game following some good recent results in smaller tournaments as well as a semi-final run at the Zuiderduin Masters.

Winner Betting
The in-form Jamie Hughes looks too big in the betting at odds of 14/1 given the stellar year that he has enjoyed, and as an each-way shot makes absolute sense.

I also like the look of Scott Waites at odds of 8/1. We’ve seen in the past that he is a player of immense quality when on top of his game – the 2010 Grand Slam victory being a case in point – and if he were to turn up and play his best darts over the coming weeks I doubt that there is anyone in the tournament that can beat him.

My final selection is Tony O’Shea at a huge 33/1. He may not be among the very best players in the line-up anymore but he will certainly have the crowd’s backing and has more than enough experience on this stage. There wouldn’t be a more popular winner, that’s for sure.