WORLD champion Scott Mitchell hopes to banish his Welsh Open hoodoo with a strong display in Sunday's showdown at Prestatyn.

'Scotty Dog' reached the last 16 back in 2009 but has yet to improve on that performance in his past five attempts at the North Wales event.

Even in his year of unparalleled success, Mitchell exited the 2014 competition with a last-32 defeat to ex-England youth international Josh McCarthy.

But after more than six weeks away from the ranking circuit, the Bransgore-based star is determined to improve his record.

Mitchell told the Daily Echo: "It is an absolutely massive tournament because they hold in-house county competitions at the same time. All the locals come out to make the whole weekend stand out as a special event.

"In many ways it is like the British and Dutch with such a big entry list. You get so many players taking part and you never quite know what to expect from the draw.

"This competition hasn't been too kind to me over the years so I'm hoping to go on a bit of a run. This will be the first ranking tournament I have played for a good six weeks after doing various exhibitions with the trophy. It will be nice to get back to normal."

Mitchell has been drawn in group 17 of 64 and kicks off his quest at 11.20am.