Dave Parletti hopes yesterday’s first appearance in the BDO World Championship will be the first of many on the Lakeside stage.

The 35-year-old was beaten 3-1 by Polish qualifier Krzysztof Kciuk in the first round yesterday afternoon, in a battle of two debutants at this year’s tournament.

Parletti, who came into his debut year at the Lakeside as the 11th seed, dropped the first set 3-0, before rallying with a superb 140 checkout to take the second set.

After losing the third set to trail again at 2-1, Parletti looked on course to force a deciding set as he went 2-0 up in the fourth set.

But Kciuk reeled off three straight legs, which included a 143 checkout, to end Parletti’s Lakeside debut at the first hurdle.

“Krzysztof played really well,” Parletti said. “He was very steady on his finishes, took the right checkouts out at the right times.

“I wouldn’t say I’m overly pleased with my performance, but I really enjoyed the experience. Hopefully next year I can come back and go one step further.

“To be honest, the break (after two sets) probably killed me off. If I’d have carried on after that I might have been all right.

“(When the 140 checkout went in) it was a real buzz. I was shaking like a leaf, I think it was the adrenaline.

“Even though I lost, I feel happy. I’ve always wanted to play here. I’m a big lover of darts and Lakeside is the home of darts. To play here, I’m over the moon.”

Listen to Dave’s full interview with us via the player below

Picture: Evert Zomer