Jamie Hughes loses grip on BDO Swedish Open

Hughes again made the final of a competition where he was the defending champion and was paired with the organisation's No 1,

They took centre stage in the men's singles at the Hotel Scandic Triangeln in Malmo, but Durrant prevailed in style by 6-0 whitewash.

Nonetheless, a lengthy run will help Hughes' standing in the BDO's world rankings, where he was sixth going into play.

As it stands, 'Yozza' and Durrant will both qualify for the PDC's cross-over Grand Slam of Darts, which returns to Wolverhampton Civic Hall in November.

West Midlands throwers Michael Baker, Matthew Dicken, Mark Craddock and Shaun Carroll also made the trip overseas.

Wolverhampton's Baker was in Durrant's section, Group One, and was dumped out by him in the last 64, by a 4-2 score-line.

Baker had recorded two victories of his own to set up the meeting, defeating Ian Jopling and Richard Selby and both by a 4-1 verdict.

Wednesbury's Dicken first got a bye in Group Three, but was then beaten 4-2 by Pasi Hyttinen in the last 128.

Cannock's Craddock was in Group 11, opening with a fine 4-0 success against Martin Atkins. He was then downed 4-3 by William Mandigers.

Bloxwich's Carroll had an off-day, after runs to the quarter-finals and last 16 of his previous two tournaments. He fell at the first hurdle, 4-1 to Dave Parletti.

Hughes went on a tear to get out of Group Nine with the verdict over Anders Astrom (4-2), Veine Hagen (4-1) and David Francis (4-1).

He carried his form into the finals, downing Klaus Rejnhold 4-1 in the last 16 before play was upgraded to a best-of-nine legs format.

He saw off Alex Jensen 5-1 in the quarters, before coming out on top 5-3 in the semis after a hard-fought battle with James Hurrell to set up the Durrant clash.

With the exception of Baker, all of the West Midlanders reached their group finals of the men's pairs competition.

Hughes teamed up with Adam Beck to reach the decider of Group Two, losing to Mark McGeeney and Atkins 4-3.

They had previously vanquished Mikael Paajanen and Petri Mantila 4-0, before an impressive 4-2 verdict over Gary Robson and Jerry Hendriks.

Baker, in conjunction with Mick Connerton, were beaten 4-0 by Robson and Hendriks in their first outing as a duo.

Dicken, alongside Dean Allsopp, made it to the same stage of Group Three where they came a cropper 4-1 to eventual title winners Durrant and Dean Reynolds.

Dicken and Allsopp had eliminated Torbjorn Gustaffson and Lars Karlsson and Kalkman Weirum and Ronny Rohr, both by 4-0 landslide, to get that far.

Craddock and Carroll were a twosome in Group Eight, where they were eventually toppled 4-3 by finalists Darius Labanauskas and Madars Razma.

They had previously claimed the scalps of Aslug Ekren and Vladimir Andersen, by walk over, and Mogens Christensen and Ulrich Meyn 4-0.

Craddock, Baker and Carroll were also involved in the mixed triples, with Baker and Carroll joining Deta Hedman on a run to the semi-finals.

A trio was made of Craddock, Beck and Anneke Kuijten but they were beaten 3-2 at the first hurdle in Group One by Kristi Johansson, Robert Wagner and Thomas Nestling.

Baker, Carroll and Hedman took Group Seven, beginning with a bye before beating Gustavsson, David Pettersson and Minna Lund 3-1.

A 3-2 verdict went their way in the quarters against Kristin Bomander, Andree Bomander and Peter Wahlsten.

The semis pitted them against Durrant, Jim Williams and Claire Brookin, where they were leading 1-0 until the hotel's fire alarm went off.

The mixed triples tournament had to be abandoned, so the prize money was shared out between those still involved.