"Great achievement – I just wasn't good enough in the end": Mitchell Lawrie's teenage dream falls short in Lakeside final epic

Mitchell Lawrie’s extraordinary week at Lakeside ended in heartbreak on Sunday night as the 15-year-old lost 6–3 to number one seed Jimmy van Schie in a men’s WDF World Championship final of exceptional quality.

Just hours after lifting the boys’ world title, the Scot looked on course for a historic double when he stormed into a three-set lead — only for van Schie to respond with six sets on the spin to claim the crown.

Despite the disappointment, Lawrie’s reaction showed both the raw emotion of the moment and the perspective of someone who has announced himself as one of darts’ most exciting young talents.

“Rubbish,” he told S4C immediately following the match. “I went three sets up and then just couldn’t hit anything. It was terrible, to be honest.”

The final may have ended 6–3, but the numbers reveal how little separated the two players across the match. Van Schie averaged 93.21; Lawrie finished on 93.18. Not a single leg exceeded 18 darts — a relentless pace closer to elite Tour standard than a typical Lakeside final.

Lawrie opened like a player sensing destiny, taking the first set with finishes of 117 and 74 and then doubling his lead after pinning six doubles from nine attempts. A whitewash third set pushed him halfway to one of the most improbable championship doubles in darts history.

But the moment momentum shifted was clear. At 1–1 in the fourth set, Lawrie narrowly missed double 13 for a 146 checkout — a dart that could have buried van Schie’s hopes. The Dutchman steadied, found the bull, and then unleashed a run of scoring that changed the match entirely.

“He hit everything,” Lawrie said. “I just couldn’t hit a thing.”

Across the middle sets, van Schie delivered a near nine-darter, and later a 120 checkout, breaking the teenager’s rhythm and turning the final into an uphill struggle. Yet Lawrie’s scoring never collapsed. What faded was the timing that had defined his earlier matches.

Even with van Schie threatening to run away with the match, Lawrie fought to the last dart. A composed 90 checkout forced the ninth set to a decider, and when van Schie missed multiple championship darts, the Scot had a chance at a ton-plus finish to extend the final. It slipped away, and van Schie finally pinned double five to clinch the title.

“It’s a great achievement to have got here, the crowd were great,” Lawrie said afterwards. “But I just wasn’t good enough in the end.”

For a 15-year-old finalist to match the world champion dart for dart — both averaging 93 — is the kind of performance that fast-forwards a player’s reputation. Lawrie leaves Lakeside not only as the boys’ world champion, but as the youngest men’s finalist in WDF history, having pushed the top seed to his limit in a match that will be remembered for its tempo, quality and intensity.

“Getting here in the first place was a lot,” he added. “I’m not happy, but it is what it is.”

The dream fell just short — but the star was unmistakably born.