Brilliant Andy Baetens dominant in Lakeside final to become first ever Belgian World Champion

A brilliant performance from Andy Baetens has seen 'the Beast' take a ruthless 6-1 victory over Chris Landman and become the first ever Belgian world champion at Lakeside.

Laying down an early marker, Baetens seemed intent on proving why he was the heavy pre-match favourite. Averaging over 100, the Belgian raced through the opening set in just three legs.

Set two was a similarly dominant display from Baetens. Although his level had dropped ever so slightly, a pair of 17 dart legs put him two legs ip in the set and via a 120 checkout the Belgian had swiftly doubled his advantage in sets.

Landman then began to find his feet after the first break, getting off the mark in the opening leg of set and holding throw in the third leg to move 2-1 up. Baetens was not in a giving mood however. Holding throw in leg 4 with a 12-darter and a tournament high 170 checkout, the number one seed then cleaned up 25 in the deciding leg on the set to stretch his advantage to three and reach the halfway mark in his quest to become world champion.

Despite the fact he'd been unable to clinch set 3, Landman had definitely upped his level and in set 4, the Dutchman finally got his rewards. Getting his first set on the board via a brilliant 14-dart hold of throw.

With Landman also taking the opening leg of set 5, he was really starting to mount a charge. Seemingly unflappable however, Baetens subsequently rolled off the next three legs in 11, 17 and 18 darts to move another set closer to victory at 4-1 ahead.

Both players missed chances to nudge infront early in set 6. Eventually, Landman took the leg on double 2. After he then missed a dart to go two up in the set however, Baetens hit straight back and followed it up with more punishment for Landman's misses in the next leg. With Landman then unable to pressure the Belgian in the fourth leg of the set, Baetens comfortably moved 5-1 ahead, just one set away from the title.

With the minimum of fuss, Baetens acted as if he'd been in this situation many times previously. Reeling off three straight legs in the seventh set, he pinned his first match dart for a 6-1 win and the title of WDF World Champion.

𝘽𝙖𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣!

Andy Baetens wins the CT1 WDF Lakeside Mens World Championship defeating Chris Landman with six maximums and four ton plus checkouts including a magical 170!#Lakeside2023 pic.twitter.com/mROnPDra7U

— WDF Darts (@DartsWDF) December 10, 2023