Deano Kisses Goodbye to Lakeside Curse

Dean Reynolds went on stage with lipstick on his face from a fan’s smacker and then finally kissed goodbye to his Lakeside curse. The Cardiff kid beat fellow Welshman Chris Harris 3-1 with a classy display in the BDO World Championship on Monday night. It was Deano’s first-ever win on the Lakeside stage after two previous first round defeats and it started with a kiss on his walk-on. He admitted: “I’m happy but it was probably my worst performance up there in three years. But all I did this year was practice my finishing. That let me down last year. “I got up there are the treble 20 looked tiny and the doubles looked massive. So if I can put them both together I’ll be happy. “I’ll take the win at the minute but it wasn’t my best game. That was second gear for me, I’ve got four more to go. If I get to level six I’ll be OK. “I went two-nil up and I kind of relaxed too much so when he won the third set, I had to re-focus and I think the last set was my best set.” Reynolds, 25, now faces a really stern test against former two-time world champion Scott Waites in the next round. He added: “It’s important I use my form that last set and go into my next game which I need to against Scott. If I play like I did in the first three sets I’m going to get trounced. “I sat and watched Scott’s game against Ross Montgomery, both great players, and both have helped me throughout the tour this year. “I need to go up there and carry on from my third set tonight and start enjoying it, don’t put too much pressure on myself. “I wear my heart on my sleeve and put too much pressure but I’m glad my doubles went in against Chris when I needed them to.” By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia) Photography courtesy of BDO / DGmedia