I’ll battle the men any time, pledges Anastasia Dobromyslova

WORLD ladies darts champion Anastasia Dobromyslova admits she would relish the chance to take on the top men’s players on a regular basis.

The 23-year-old Russian, who is based in Ellesmere Port with fiance Tony Martin, earned a place in the main draw of the Blue Square UK Open in Bolton.

Dobromyslova rose to the challenge in the first round against Scottish star Robert Thornton and pushed him all the way before bowing out 6-5 at the Reebok Stadium.

She currently competes solely in ladies’ events on the British Darts Organisation (BDO) circuit, but could be tempted to take on men permanently by switching to the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) circuit.

"I enjoyed it but if I had won it would have been even better," she said.

"I went 2-1 up against Robert and thought I had him and I was confident all the way through, but in the final leg I was a bit unlucky with my scoring.

"He played well but with a bit more practice I could beat him next time.

"I’ll go back and play some more events with the BDO but maybe I’ll try to qualify for the UK Open again next year too. It was a brilliant experience for me."

Liverpool-based trio Alan Green and brothers Lee and Joey Palfreyman all made early exits in Bolton.

Green, who reached the quarter-finals last year, was a preliminary round casualty to Alan Casey, who went on to beat Lee Palfreyman 6-4 in the first round.

Joey Palfreyman thrashed Mel Davies 6-1 but bowed out in the second round, losing 6-0 to Terry Jenkins.

Gary Welding was knocked out 6-3 in the second round by Wayne Mardle but there was better news for fellow St Helens player Alan Tabern.

The world number 13 enjoyed wins over Paul Cooper (9-7), Thornton (9-6) and Simon Whatley (9-8)., before being beaten 10-6 by James Wade.

He paid the price for missing his doubles against the world No 3 who went on to lift the trophy courtesy of a 11-7 win over American Gary Mawson.