Darts: Adams and West rally to deny underdogs

Martin Adams hit back from two sets down to edge through to the second round of the British Darts Organisation World Championship with a 3-2 win over Davy Richardson at Frimley Green.

Martin Adams hit back from two sets down to edge through to the second round of the British Darts Organisation World Championship with a 3-2 win over Davy Richardson at Frimley Green yesterday.

The 48-year-old seventh seed was outplayed in the early stages but, after levelling the match, prevailed 4-2. Richardson appeared to tighten up when the prospect of taking another well-known scalp ­ in the wake of Andy Fordham's first-round exit to Vincent van der Voort ­ looked like becoming reality.

Another seed to overcome a poor start was Tony West, who came through 3-2 against the Netherlands' Rick Hofstra. A third fightback came in the final match of the session with Robert Wagner beating Jarkko Komula 3-2 after trailing 2-0.

The second seed Ted Hankey beat John Kuczynski 3-0 while John Henderson ended the chances of teenager Stephen Bunting, and Robert Thornton ousted World Masters quarter-finalist Martin Atkins.