Andy Baetens and Wesley Plaisier first men through to quarterfinals at Lakeside

The first two quarterfinalists of the men's tournament at Lakeside have been announced. Andy Baetens and Wesley Plaisier managed to join the last eight on Wednesday night at the WDF World Championships.

Baetens, ranked number one in the WDF rankings, proved the better against Gary Stone. In a very entertaining match, in which both players threw 94 average, 'The Beast' won 3-1 in sets.

Baetens won the first set 3-0, hitting 160, 88 and 68. The Belgian then opened up a 2-1 lead in the second set, but had to hand it over to Stone after the Scot managed a 15-darter and an 11-darter. The lead then went to Baetens again. He opened the third set with an 83 finish and then also threw a 120 finish and a 17-darter to take the set 3-1. After four legs in the fourth set, it was 2-2. Baetens needed only one more leg for the victory and with a 14-darter he pulled off the win.

Against the experienced James Richardson, Plaisier had no problems at all. Thanks to a 120 finish and a 16-darter he took the first set 3-1, and also the second set went 3-1 to the Dutchman. For a moment it looked like Richardson would take the third set after the Englishman took a 2-1 lead. However, Richardson then threw a very bad leg of his own with seven innings without a triple. Plaisier took advantage and made the rebreak with a 40 check-out. Plaisier then finished the job with a 14-darter.