DARTS: TITLE BID ALL OVA FOR ANA.

Byline: By LEE WEST

ANASTASIA Dobromyslova's dream of reaching the first round of the PDC World Championship ended last night after losing her preliminary-round clash with Remco van Eijden.

Reigning women's world champion Dobromyslova, making her debut in the tournament, claimed the opening leg against her Dutch opponent but Van Eijden - who was heckled by the largely pro-Dobromyslova crowd throughout - won the next three legs on the spin to move into a 3-1 lead.

Dobromyslova responded well as both players began to find their stride as the boisterous crowd began to settle.

The Russian closed out a 13-darter to move to within a leg before levelling in the next.

It was not to be for 24-yearold, however, as Van Eijden rattled off the next two legs to claim a 5-3 win and set up a first-round match with Tony Eccles.

"I'm disappointed but I wasn't good enough on the day," said Dobromyslova.

"I felt comfortable on stage but we were both nervous in the first few legs and I felt some pressure.

"But this is just the start for me. I'll be travelling to all the PDC tournaments next year and hopefully I will qualify again."

Elsewhere, world No.2 Raymond Van Barneveld brushed aside Mark Stephenson 3-0 while Wayne Mardle beat David Fatum by the same scoreline.

The opening match of the evening session saw seventh-seeded Andy Hamilton claim a straight-sets win over Michael Barnard.

Mark Walsh beat Jamie Caven 3-2 but was left to rue a missed double 12 which denied him what would have been the first-ever nine-dart finish in PDC Championship history-and a pounds 20,000 bonus.

CAPTION(S):

OVA & OUT Dobromyslova lost in the preliminary round; IT'S DUTCH AND GO Van Eijden reached the first round