Beaton will play Andy Hamilton in round two

Steve Beaton eased to a 3-0 victory over Spain's Carlos Rodriguez in round one of the PDC World Championship.

The Briton edged the first set 3-2 with a 13-dart finish before taking the next two sets without losing a leg at London's Alexandra Palace.

"I went up there with the attitude of enjoying the game and it worked well for me," said Beaton, who will now face Andy Hamilton in the last 32.

American Darin Young reached round two with a 3-2 defeat of Andy Smith.

Young took a two-set lead against Smith, who is ranked 35 places above the American, before the Briton hit back to level.

Young then edged a final set 6-4 to inflict a third consecutive first-round defeat on Smith.

Simon Whitlock inflicted a surprise 3-1 defeat on Colin Osborne on his first appearance at the venue.

The Australian, who has returned to PDC from BDO tournaments, won the first two sets, 3-1 3-2, before his British opponent hit back to keep the match alive.

The fourth set was a thriller, Osborne's 160 checkout levelling at 2-2 before Whitlock produced a 93 finish to edge it and set up a last-32 contest against Wayne Jones or Alex Roy.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version