Steve Farmer in major darts upset

Shropshire's Steve Farmer was today celebrating causing one of the major upsets of the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship.

Farmer dumped No 14 seed Ronnie Baxter out of the £1m tournament after a thrilling 3-2 triumph at Alexandra Palace on Saturday afternoon.

He hit seven 180s in his triumph and fought back from 2-1 down to notch a famous victory.

"When I drew Ronnie I knew it was a tough game but my plan was to win the first set and build on that," said 46-year-old Farmer, who is based in Hadley in Telford but also has close family links in Church Stretton.

"Ronnie's a legend and such a solid player but when I got the first set I grew in belief.

"I had a little bit of luck and although I didn't make it easy for myself, it's fantastic to win."

Farmer got off to a blistering start by winning the first five legs of the match to move to the brink of a 2-0 lead.

But he missed a dart to take the second set and Baxter roared back to win six of the next eight legs to open up a 2-1 advantage for himself.

A 14-dart leg and a 102 checkout helped Farmer level the scores at 2-2, and he claimed the final set 3-1 to send him into the second round, with a guaranteed pay cheque of £10,000.

He will now take on German qualifier Kevin Munch in the last 32 on Friday night.

Munch progressed after his opponent Dennis Ovens was forced to withdraw from their first round clash with a back problem after losing the first set.