Anderson is the man to beat

Top seed Gary Anderson was made to battle hard for his 3-2 win over Norway's Robert Wagner in the first round of the BDO World Championships.

The match featured 10 maximums, eight coming from the Scot who has stumbled at the first-round stage five times.

Number 12 seed Simon Whitlock, runner-up last year, took 23 minutes to record a 3-0 win over Scotland's Mark Barilli.

Fellow Australian Eddy Sims, the 16th seed, failed to reach round two, losing 3-2 to Welshman Robert Hughes.

The qualifier will now face Anderson in the next round.

"I can play much better and hope I can bring my true form to the stage for my second-round match with Gary," said Hughes.

Ninth seed Tony O'Shea had little trouble disposing of Swede Daniel Larsson 3-0 while fellow Englishman Darryl Fitton, the fifth seed, was an equally emphatic winner over Mark Salmon of Wales.

In the final match of the day, Dutch eighth seed Edwin Max was a 3-2 victor over debutant Krzysztof Ratajski from Poland.

Players from nine countries are competing for a record prize fund of �320,000 with the winner collecting �95,000.

606: DEBATE Who will win the BDO World Championship?

Champion Mark Webster faces Dutchman Wily van der Wiel on Sunday. The Welshman is one of four champions in the draw, along with Martin Adams, Ted Hankey and John Walton.

The 2007 winner Adams is the oldest player in the tournament at 52, although he comes to Frimley Green on the back of victory at the Winmau World Masters at the beginning of December.

In the women's event, Trina Gulliver, winner of the title seven times, is the top seed - and began her defence with a 2-0 win over debutant Lisa Ashton on Saturday.

Ashton had triumphed when the pair met in the final of the 2008 Zuiderduin Masters.

In Saturday's other game, Scotland's Anne Kirk lost 2-1 to fourth seed Karin Krappen of the Netherlands.

Extensive coverage of the Lakeside World Darts Championships will feature on BBC TV and the BBC Sport website.

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