Maria has Lakeside dream shattered at the first hurdle

MARIA O’ Brien crashed out of the BDO World championships on her Lakeside debut last night when she was defeated in two straight sets by the No.8 seed Sharon Prins.

The Business Development Manager won the opening leg in 21, only for her Dutch opponent to win the next three and take the first set.

O’Brien clinched the opening leg of the next set against the darts in 20, but Prins pegged her back despite O’Brien hitting back to back 140s in the leg.

SO CLOSE: Maria O'Brien came close to equalling the highest ever checkout in the BDO

Ladies' World Championships when she missed double top going for a 160 finish.

The 29-year-old, from Zoetermeer in South Holland, then edged 2-1 in front when winning the third leg but O’Brien, after narrowly missing a 160 checkout, finished the leg on her next visit for a win in 18.

The Plymouth thrower now had to win the fifth leg to force a third and deciding set, but it was not to be as Prins progressed to the quarter-finals with a win in 20.

The two averages were much on par with Prins finishing with 23.83 compared to O’Brien’s 23.62, but the doubles percentages told a different story with Prins nailing 46% of hers against O’Brien’s 23%.

Maria O’Brien would not have been pleased with her performance in front of a live world-wide TV audience, but looking back over the last 12 months, she has had a fantastic year and should be very proud of all that she has achieved.

Set 1: Sharon Prins (140x2, 100x5) bt Maria O’Brien (100x9) 3-1.

Set 2: Sharon Prins (140x4, 100x3) bt Maria O’Brien (140x3, 100x7) 3-2.