Waites eases to BDO title

Scott Waites cruised to his first BDO World Championship title after beating Tony O'Shea 7-1 in a one-sided final.

Waites was ruthless as he raced to a 5-0 lead, taking 10 legs in a row at one point as O'Shea almost folded completely in his third final.

O'Shea won the sixth set to ensure there would be no whitewash, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly dismissed with Waites claiming the next, and although there was a hint the third seed was feeling the pressure, he managed to hold his nerve.

"All I tried to do was battle my way to a few sets in front," Waites said on BBC2. "Tony didn't look like his normal self, but I'd rather have him at half fit than fully fit. Winning this is what everyone aspires to and I can't believe I've won at the Lakeside."

Yorkshireman Waites was the favourite to land his first title after Stephen Bunting and Martin Adams crashed out in the early rounds but was expected to be given a tough test by O'Shea.

That never materialised and Waites did not even have to be at his best as he averaged just 86.43 to hand O'Shea his third final defeat, having previously lost in 2009 and last year.

O'Shea was at least competitive in the early stages, winning three legs in the opening two sets, but he was then well off the pace as Waites won his 10 consecutive legs to open up a 5-0 advantage, to the obvious frustration of the man nicknamed Silverback'.

The 51-year-old finally got on the scoreboard, taking the sixth set 3-2 but only after Waites had fluffed his lines.

The 2011 Winmau World Masters winner went further ahead after a short break and although O'Shea sensationally took out 158, Waites closed out the match with a fabulous 110 checkout.

"I was slow out of the blocks and Scott just did what he does. He played superbly, dead steady," said O'Shea, who averaged 81.9. "I'm a bit gutted because I didn't give him a game, it just wasn't there tonight. Scott never gives you many chances but, this week, I honestly thought I'd done enough."