Baetens slays WDF world champion and wins convincing title at Australian Darts Open
PDCSaturday, 19 August 2023 at 11:30
Final victory at the Australian Darts Open went convincingly to Andy Baetens. The WDF number one ranked player conceded just four legs in three matches on the final day of the platinum tournament in Australia.
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The field of participants at the Australian Darts Open consisted of the best local players, supplemented by the top players of the WDF. In the men's event, they competed for the top prize of 10,000 Australian Dollars, equivalent to almost 6,000 euros.
So that cheque went to Baetens, who had come through his pool matches earlier this week against Rob Modra (5-3) and Laurie Loch (5-2) without too many problems. During the final day, 'The Beast' won his pots even easier.
Baetens started the final day with a 6-2 victory over Ronald Nakata in the quarter-finals. He then humiliated top local player Raymond Smith 8-0 before the Belgian was too strong with a whopping 10-2 win over WDF world champion Neil Duff.
For Baetens, it is already his fifth WDF ranking title of the season. Earlier this year he was already the best at the Croatian Open, Croatian Masters Denmark Masters and Denmark Open.
Results Australian Darts Open 2023
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Quarterfinals
Andy Baetens (94.00) 6-2 (86.63) Ronald Nakata
Raymond Smith (89.43) 6-4 (85.35) Peter Machin
Jonny Tata (95.84) 6-4 (89.85) Haupai Puha
Neil Duff (87.64) 6-3 (81.31) Danny Porter
Semi-final
Andy Baetens (98.56) 8-0 (93.28) Raymond Smith
Neil Duff (84.93) 8-4 (82.77) Jonny Tata
Final
Andy Baetens (92.62) 10-2 (89.81) Neil Duff
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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