Preview WDF Lakeside World Championship 2023: Has iconic tournament of yesteryear lost its luster?

Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green will host the WDF Lakeside World Championship 2023 from Saturday, December 2 to Sunday, December 10. Various categories will compete for the WDF world titles.

Lakeside is the iconic venue where many big names have taken the stage. Greats such as Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Phil Taylor, John Part, Steve Beaton, Raymond van Barneveld, Ted Hankey, Andy Fordham, Greats such as Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Phil Taylor, John Part, Steve Beaton, Raymond van Barneveld, Ted Hankey, Andy Fordham and Martin Adams have become world champions there. Of the current generation of top darts players, Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Dave Chisnall, James Wade and Gary Anderson also once threw their darts there.

That was under the banner of the BDO, which from 1986 to 2019 descended on Frimley Green for the BDO World Championship. In recent years, ticket sales became increasingly difficult, partly because many of the notable names made the move to the PDC. The BDO ran into difficulties, due to bad management by chairman Des Jacklin, and pulled out of Lakeside. In 2020, the tournament took place in a side room at the O2 Arena in London. There they lasted only one year, then the association more or less ceased to exist and the WDF came more into the picture as an association for amateur darts.

They decided to return to Lakeside, where the very first edition of the WDF World Championship was played in 2022. Neil Duff (men), Beau Greaves (ladies), Bradly Roes (boys) and Eleanor Cairns (girls) crowned the champions at the time.

But as good as the WDF's intentions are, the tournament at Lakeside is far from having the stature it once had. Iconic names such as Darryl Fitton, Tony O'Shea, Gary Robson and Martin Adams are missing and the average viewer will have to Google much of the field of participants to figure out which player they are dealing with.

For example, the WDF also fails to attract the best players from the PDC Challenge Tour (open to players without a PDC Tour Card). From the top-10 of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit 2023, only number eight James Hurrell is active at Lakeside. Number 10 Thibault Tricole had qualified, but also forced qualification for the PDC World Darts Championship and preferred to play at Alexandra Palace.

Looking slightly lower on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, Chris Landman (11), Wesley Plaisier (12), Alexander Merkx (19), Sebastian Bialecki (25), Jelle Klaasen (26) and Arjan Konterman (28) are also competing in Frimley Green.

However, these are all players who are competing in the WDF World Championship more or less out of necessity. All of them would rather compete in that other World Darts Championship, where the total prize pool is almost ten times bigger. The aforementioned names even after the draw and playing schedule for the 2023 WDF Lakeside World Championship had already been announced, tried to qualify for the PDC World Darts Championship. So you could say that the tournament at Lakeside has devalued into a haven for players who can't make it at the PDC (yet).

In addition to the aforementioned Hurrell, Landman, Plaisier, Merkx, Bialecki, Konterman and former Lakeside champion Jelle Klaasen, there are some other familiar names competing for the WDF world title.

The seeding list is headed by Andy Baetens. The Belgian reigned supreme on the WDF circuit this year with eight ranking titles. Furthermore, the names of Neil Duff (defending champion), Danny Lauby (talented American who competed twice at the PDC World Championship), Peter Machin (winner BDO World Trophy in 2017), James Richardson (four-time participant PDC World Championship), Jamie Lewis (former semifinalist PDC World Championship) and Leonard Gates (winner of three televised tournaments on the World Seniors Tour) feature on the entry list.

The women's tournament looks set to be primarily a battle for second place. Top favourite Beau Greaves stands out far above the rest of the field of participants. Moreover, the players who could come somewhat close on a good day are all on the other side of the schedule. 

The outsiders for the women's world title are Aileen de Graaf and Lisa Ashton, they could meet in the semifinals. Fallon Sherrock and Mikuru Suzuki did not qualify for this tournament. They will be competing at the World Darts Championship in Alexandra Palace later in December.

In the U.K, on Sky channel 186, Ayozat will broadcast the tournament for the final few days between Friday, December 8 and Sunday, December 10. They will also live stream the whole tournament on their website Ayozat.com.

Through the channels of the WDF, Winmau and Tungsten Tales the live streams will be made available.

The total prize pool for the WDF Lakeside World Championship includes £257,000 in prize money. That is a lot less than in 2022, when £300,000 was paid out.

The main prize for the winner of the men's and women's tournament did remain the same. The winner in the men's will take home 50,000 pounds in prize money. The winner in the women's will receive a check for 25,000 pounds.