Stephen Bunting eases past Jim Widmayer

Stephen Bunting has opened up his 2014 Lakeside campaign with a 3-1 win over Jim Widmayer.

The number one seed, who has dominated the BDO circuit over the past 12 months, dropped the third set against the American, but he never looked in danger of suffering an early exit.

The 28-year-old took the opening two sets without reply, but Widmayer, who beat Garry Thompson in a preliminary round match on Sunday, stunned the Liverpudlian by taking three legs out of four to win the third.

However, normal service was resumed in the fourth as Bunting stormed to victory with a 91.6 average.

Bunting will now play the winner of the contest between Jim Williams and Dave Prins for a place in the last eight.