Beaton bows out of the Ladbrokes World Championships to qualifier

South African ace Petersen, making his return to the big stage after taking a year out of the sport to overcome an arm injury, defeated Malaysia’s Mohammed Latif Sapup 4-1 in their preliminary round game to win through to the first round.

Petersen then landed a 141 checkout in the opening set of his clash with Beaton, only for the former Lakeside champion to take first blood 3-1.

The South African Masters champion hit back to level by taking the second set 3-2, with Beaton coming back from 2-0 down to level, only to miss four darts to double his lead as Petersen squared the game.

The youngster then came from a leg down to take the third set 3-1 and edged the fourth in a decider on double 16 to joyfully seal his second-round place, delighting the Alexandra Palace crowd with his dance moves in the process.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to have beaten a great player like Steve,” said Petersen. “I felt like I was waiting for Steve to turn up and I took advantage.

“It’s a big thing for me because I get to come back for another game now.

“The injury has set me back a year but I really enjoyed this and the crowd were fantastic with me.”

For Beaton, who went into the tournament on the back of some good form, it promises to be another miserable Christmas.

“It’s the worst venue for me,” said Beaton. “I never do any good here.

“I played well in spasms but there were a couple of bad finishes.

“I thought I dug deep and I can’t believe he hit that double 16.

“It would have been great (if I’d won) as I would have had a break to December 27.

“But now I’ve got to wait around for next season to start.”