Dutch Delight at Lakeside! Jimmy van Schie defeats 15-year-old talent Mitchell Lawrie to become 2025 WDF World Champion

It would not be a fairytale run for 15-year-old Mitchell Lawrie in the men's WDF World Championship final. Number one seed Jimmy van Schie racked off six sets on the spin to become world champion at Lakeside, winning 6-3.

The top two players in the tournament, they had higher averages than anyone else competing at Lakeside with a stunning matchup set in prospect. There was class from both players with van Schie going eight into a nine. In the end, van Schie would take glory. He is the first Dutchman to win it since Christian Kist back in 2012.

Lawrie started with a bang, taking out 117 to hold. Van Schie followed that with a 16-dart hold as both players quicky settled into this final. The tall Dutchman would the find a break on double 18 but failed to wrap up the set. Lawrie, who had missed tops for a 106, levelled up and then took out 74 for the first set.

Van Schie took out in 92 in two, followed by a piercing look into the crowd which had been firmly on Lawrie’s side. They would have been on his side if he took out the big fish, but he narrowly missed the bull, as did Lawrie but for a smaller checkout. The Scot was more clinical on the outer ring, pinning six out of nine doubles to go 2-0 ahead.

It was worrying signs for van Schie. Lawrie was racing away at a rate of knots. A whitewash third set saw him go halfway to his second championship of the day. At 1-1 in the fourth set, Lawrie had another chance to compound misery on his opponent but failed to hit double 13 for a 146 outshot. Van Schie was massively let off and capitalised on it after pinning the bull to get a set on the board.

He was on a mission to find a pathway back into the match and almost got a second set on the board after missing double 18 for a legendary nine-darter on the Lakeside stage. He got the job done and at the break was firmly in this final.

The trajectory did not change when the players returned. Van Schie continued to pile in the legs with some fantastic scoring power, hammering the triple 20 bed. He was not at his best on the outer ring, but he has enough of an advantage to wrap up the set to move this tie level.

This seemed to have woken Lawrie up, as he hit two 180s enroute to getting back ahead but a terrific three-seg burst from van Schie, including a 120 checkout, put him in the lead for the first time. He prolonged this brilliant spell, winning a fifth set on the bounce after finding double 18. He was overcoming whistling from the crowd, keeping his composure to move further ahead in this final.

‘The Dutch Sequoia’ was just one set away from becoming champion of the world, but he still had to get over the line. Lawrie was not going to make it easy and took out 90 to sneak ahead. Van Schie levelled up and forced a decider. He snuck ahead and left himself a match dart on tops but wired it. Lawrie also had a ton+ outshot but ended up way off the intended double 14. This allowed van Schie to return and after another missed two championship darts, he found double five to achieve his dream. Heartbreak for Lawrie, who gave a big hug to his rival afterwards. He will have to be content with the boys title he won earlier in the day. But it is a joyous occasion for van Schie who culminates the WDF World Championship with a bang.