DORSET ace Scott Mitchell remained upbeat despite missing out on landing his sixth ranking title of 2017.

The Bransgore thrower was knocked out at the last-four stage of the Finder Masters in Holland by eventual winner Danny Noppert.

Mitchell had two chances to book his place in the final but failed to take opportunities when taking aim at double-18 and double-10 for the match.

He went on to suffer a 3-2 sets defeat to the Dutchman, who beat Jim Williams 5-3 to seal the crown.

Describing his tournament exit, the Dorset star told the Daily Echo: “I bossed four sets and was in total control.

“I stood there at 2-2 and Danny went off 180 and 140 to start the next set on his throw. That made life very difficult.

“But I am really pleased with how I am playing.

“To reach the semi-finals of something like that shows you are in pretty tidy nick at the right time of year.

“This result shows I am not just there to make up the numbers. I am there to get to the latter stages of these tournaments.”

Having come through Group B at the event in Egmond aan Zee with wins over Rick Hofstra and Ross Montgomery, Mitchell took the opportunity to gain some extra momentum heading into next month’s BDO World Championship.

The 47-year-old beat Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas 3-0 in the quarter-final, with the pair also due to meet in the first round at Lakeside.

“I made it look really easy but it wasn’t,” added Mitchell, when asked about that contest.

“It was 3-2 in the first set and 3-2 in the last set. There were fine lines in the game and he will go away from it not being too worried.

“He will know he was almost in the game and I took out a couple of big shots.

“I won’t be looking at it as any sort of marker for Lakeside, it is a different ball game there all together.”

The semi-final exit capped an impressive year on the oche for the 2015 world champion.

He recorded event triumphs at the Belfry Open, Denmark Open, Swedish Open and Czech Open, as well as landing the England National Singles title.

Those victories have seen Mitchell end the year on top of the World Darts Federation and England rankings.

“I really cannot complain about how this year has gone,” he added.

“It has been back to my 2014-15 standard of play, which brought me some really nice rewards.

“This is where you have to graft and make sure you do your work to keep yourself going.

“It is going to be the tough bit between now and the start of Lakeside.”

The BDO World Championship is set to get under way at Frimley Green on Saturday, January 6.