 In the evening session, 1996 BDO World Champion Steve Beaton was untroubled as he beat Canadian Gerry Convery without dropping a single leg.In-form third seed Dennis Priestley beat Josephus Schenk in straight sets, and rising star James Wade defeated his opponent Warren French 3–1.The first round came to an end with seven out of the eight seeded players in action progressing through to the last 32.