Oxfordshire star Deta Hedman believes she is ready to make it third time lucky when she faces England teammate Lorraine Farlam in the women’s semi-finals at the Lakeside BDO World Championships at Frimley Green this evening (5pm).

Hedman, the No 1 seed this year, has seen her challenge end in the last four in her previous two shots at the tournament in 2010 and 2011.

But having recovered from a shaky start in Saturday’s quarter-finals to avenge her defeat of 12 months ago by Wales’s Rhian Edwards, she feels she can now reach her first Lakeside final.

Hedman won the Czech Open pairs with Farlam in November, and is fully aware of her opponents’ terrific scoring power.

The 52-year-old said: “It’s safe to say if Lorraine is on form with her doubles she is more than a match for any lady – or man come to that.

“This is my third time in the semi-finals at Lakeside in three years and although I’m not superstitious, I’ll have clover, shamrock and various other good luck charms in my dart case. I feel ready to take it further this year.”

Hedman has played Farlam on several occasions, and says she has a decent record against her with wins in the Winmau Masters play-offs, the German Open and the 2009 British Open.

At the same time, Farlam came out on top in the England National singles and the Gold Cup semi-final last year.

Hedman avenged last year’s defeat by Edwards with a 2-1 victory after losing the first leg 3-0.

But the ‘Dark Destroyer’ dug deep to take the next two sets 3-1, including checkouts of 119 and 96.

“When I went and lost the first set 3-0 my mind was whirling around,” said Hedman. “I thought all the hard work of the past 12 months was being ruined.

“The turnaround in the next two sets was down to me thinking ‘this is not going to happen to me again’.”

Although Hedman is based at Witham in Essex, she has a big following in Oxfordshire.

And she added: “I would love to thank all the people in Oxfordshire who have sent me good luck messages. It means a lot to me .

“I’m an Essex girl by location, but my adopted county is in my heart.

“I’m really hoping that at the next county match against Yorkshire at Rileys the world championship will have dark blue ribbons on it.”

Trina Gulliver, the nine-times champion, who used to play for the Shears, Wantage, faces Russia’s Anastasia Dobromyslova in the second semi-final (5.45pm).

Meanwhile, Hedman has given her support to a movement on Facebook calling for live TV coverage of the women’s game. To join in go to www.petitionbuzz.com.