Beaton’s pain is Whitlock’s gain
Beaton, who underwent keyhole surgery to remove pieces of broken bone from his knee before the match on Wednesday, was defeated 4-1 by Australian Simon Whitlock who has just returned to the sport after breaking his ankle in October.
The former competition finalist made Beaton pay for missed chances to take the first, hitting back from 2-0 down to edge the set, and win the second without reply before Beaton took three successive legs to edge the third in a decider.
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Hide AdHowever, Beaton paid the price for failing to set up a double in the fourth set’s decider, and instead of pulling back to two-all found himself 3-1 down before Whitlock sealed victory in the next, setting up a third round clash with Michael van Gerwen on Thursday.