DALE darts ace Kirsty Hutchinson is aiming for glory when the BDO world championships get underway this weekend.
Despite her current world ranking of 11, Kirsty is unseeded for the championships and faces a tricky first round tie against number three ranked Aileen de Graaf, from the Netherlands.
Kirsty, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, explained: “I finished the season in October ranked 16th, which meant I just missed out on automatic qualification for the world championships. It was a matter of just a few ranking points.”
Undaunted, she took part in a qualifying competition in Essex and defeated Germany’s number one Stefanie Luck to make it through to the championships, which are being held at the O2 Arena, in London, for the first time.
Kirsty goes into the competition in good form and having enjoyed an excellent start to the new season.
She did the double at the Northern Ireland Open defeating Finland’s Kaisu Rekinen in the final of the open competition 5-0 and following that up with victory in the matchplay against Ireland’s Denise Cassidy.
She has also qualified for the BDO Gold Cup singles.
“I am in good form at the moment. I just need to put in a lot of practice. I'll be putting the effort in on the board over Christmas.”
Despite being drawn against such a high ranked opponent, Kirsty said she was hopeful going into the contest.
“Aileen has beaten me more times than I have beaten her. However, I played her in September in a semi-final in Ireland and won and I also beat her in the semi final of a competition in Westfries, Holland, this season.”
Although the BBC no longer broadcasts the BDO championships, Kirsty’s first round match will be shown on Eurosport.
She will also have the support of family and friends who are planning to travel down to London to cheer her on.
She will take to the oche to the strains of Rhythm of the Night on Sunday for the best of three sets match, with each set the best of five legs.
Her match is third on the bill after two men’s singles contests.
