Scott Mitchell enters the BDO Lakeside World Championship believing he’s playing as well as he was when he lifted the trophy in 2015. Mitchell gave the championship one of its greatest nights when he won the title. His final with Martin Adams went all the way to a deciding 13th set – and Mitchell nailed a 158 check out to break the throw that proved to be the turning point. The 47 year old hasn’t got beyond the quarter finals at the Lakeside since then, but his form over the last 12 months is good. “I won five tournaments,” he said, “and form is as good as it’s ever been. “I’m playing as well as I was when I won the world title – and that’s all down to confidence. “I’m not trying to convince myself, or other people, that I’m playing well. I’m proving it by going out there and winning tournaments. “But I know that as a darts player, it’s all about what you do at the Lakeside and in the World Masters.

“It’s great being ranked in the top three or four, but people remember who won the big tournaments and I feel I’m ready to win the Lakeside again.” He launches his trophy bid against Darius Labanauskas. They met only a few weeks ago in the quarter finals of the Finders Masters and though Mitchell ran out a 4-0 winner, he said: “The scoreline flatters me a bit. The sets were close and I see this as being a tough first-round draw.” Mitchell admits he hasn’t been able to practice as much as he would have liked ahead of the championship. “My father has been ill, so I’ve had to do more on the family farm,” he explained, “and I’ve been practicing for 30 or 40 minutes here and there. But I feel fine. I think you can over practice sometimes, you can try too hard.”