• BDO World Championship

Waites waltzes past O'Shea to win BDO title at Lakeside

Scott Waites was too hot for Tony O'Shea © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Controversy strikes as O'Shea books Waites final
  
• News: George marches on to set up Waites semi
  

The BDO World Championship is live on ESPN. Click here to find out how you can subscribe

Scott Waites romped to his first world title as he hammered Tony O'Shea 7-1 to win the BDO World Championship.

Waites, the red-hot favourite, had been in blistering form all week, and he dropped just five sets en route to victory at Lakeside.

The Yorkshireman raced to a 5-0 lead, and although O'Shea avoided a humiliating whitewash, he was never in the contest as Waites cruised to victory in the most one-sided final since Ted Hankey beat Ronnie Baxter 6-0 in 2000.

O'Shea, a two-time finalist at the event, had lost every one of his six previous finals, and he was guilty of some wayward darts as Waites, whose own average was just 86.42, took full advantage to race to an early lead.

In a one-sided final, a 140 and 180 from Waites set up a break early in the third set, and it was more of the same as he powered on, winning nine legs in a row to take a 5-0 lead.

But after O'Shea had claimed the 250th maximum of the tournament, Waites inexplicably missed a set dart to hand his opponent a lifeline, and O'Shea grabbed it with both hands to avoid the whitewash.

Returning after the interval, O'Shea began to show some fight, a superb 158 checkout keeping his faint hopes of victory alive, but it was too little too late as Waites closed in on victory.

The No. 3 seed showed signs of nerves, posting the lowest three-dart score of the week - a measly seven - but he kept his cool to seal victory with a 110 checkout.

"All I tried to do was battle my way to a few sets in front. It was so hot up there, very difficult to hold the darts," Waites told the BBC. "Tony didn't look like his normal self. Winning this is what everyone aspires to and I can't believe I've won at the Lakeside.

"The crowd have been fantastic and I know they wanted Tony to win. I'm going to enjoy this, lap it up. I've got a day off work tomorrow."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.