Fordham flounders in BDO Darts Championship

Andy Fordham tonight described his first-round exit from the Lakeside World Championship as one of those things after losing his grip on the title against Vincent van der Voort.

'The Viking' became the first champion for five years to bow out at the opening hurdle when he lost 3-2 to the eighth-seeded Dutchman in Frimley Green.

"Fair play to Vincent, he played very well," said the 42-year-old Dartford publican.

"He's a quick player and I'm slower and he played his game. Unfortunately I wasn't good enough on the day.

"It's just one of those things. I came here feeling really well and playing well."

Ultimately it may have been lack of match practice that found out Fordham, who missed the Dutch Open and the World Trophy last year because of chest pains and a broken wrist respectively.

He was also forced to retire from the highly-publicised showdown with PDC rival Phil Taylor when suffering from heat exhaustion.

Van der Voort, whose lack of composure has let him down previously, kept his nerve this time and, after drawing level at 2-2 he was well on top in the decider, closing out the match with a double five.

The 36-year-old's next opponent will be Tony Eccles, who won for the first time in four attempts at this tournament when he ousted 2002 champion Tony David with a 3-2 victory.

On a good day for the Dutch contingent, top seed Raymond van Barneveld made serene progress with an easy 3-0 triumph over Scotland's Gary Anderson.

'Barney', who is seeking a fourth world crown, had expected to be given more of a test by the German Open and Denmark Open winner.

"Gary is a fantastic player and when the draw was made I thought it would be a tough match," said the 37-year-old from The Hague.

There was better news for Scotland when their national team captain Mike Veitch edged through 3-2 in a dour encounter with Norfolk's Shaun Greatbatch.

Ladies' champion Trina Gulliver began her campaign for a fifth consecutive crown with a 2-0 win over Anne Kirk.