RONNIE Baxter ended his second seed jinx at the Lakeside by powering into the last 16 of the Embassy World Darts Championship.

Baxter crushed 1995 champion and last year's runner-up Richie Burnett 3-0 to set up a second round showdown with unseeded Kevin Painter.

The 37-year-old from Church fired in five maximum 180s, tied the tournament's high checkout of 138 and dropped only four legs in a one-sided demolition of a bemused Burnett.

And having taken a major step on the road to the £42,000 first prize by ousting the brilliant Welshman, Baxter is now setting his sights on Sunday's final.

"I've come here to win it and, having beaten someone of Richie's calibre so easily, I must fancy my chances," he beamed.

"The Lakeside has never been great to me and I have always been vulnerable so to get through is a real boost and proved lots of people wrong."

Baxter certainly has every right to be thrilled just to get past the first hurdle. This is the third time in the last four years he has been seeded second and on both previous occasions he was dumped out by unfancied opponents in the opening round.

"It's nice to have made it third time lucky as the second seed and show the critics that I can play on the stage when the pressure is on," he added.

Painter, the world number 19, was just as impressive in eliminating Robbie Widdows but Baxter knows he has the measure of him having beaten the Cambridge ace on his way to the quarter-finals three years ago.

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