SCOTT Mitchell was confident he had all but guaranteed his place at Lakeside 2014 after reaching the semi-final of the BDO British Open this weekend.

Dorset's darts star, who won through eight rounds at the event held in Bridlington, Yorkshire, narrowly lost 5-4 to eventual tournament winner Garry Thompson having missed two chances at double top to win the last-four clash.

But despite the defeat, a delighted Mitchell scored valuable ranking points in his quest for a top-16 place and automatic entry to the BDO's showpiece event in January, avoiding the last-ditch scramble of the Romanian Open this weekend.

Mitchell told the Daily Echo: “I had just dropped out of the top-16 which meant I would have had to go through the qualifiers for the world championships so it was a relief.

“The season was coming down to the last few weeks but I have been in good form recently and I'm happy not to be involved in that last chance saloon in Romania.

“I had two darts to win the semi-final but that happens sometimes. The winner of any senior tournament rides their luck at some stage and Garry took his chance well.”

Mitchell's stellar showing was the latest in a line of strong performances which has seen the Bransgore-based player win the French Open and set the second highest nationwide average in county competitions for September while representing Dorset.

He also reached the quarter-final of the British Open men's pairs alongside Richie George before losing 3-1 to Ron Meulenkamp and Jim Williams on Saturday.