“I wasn’t myself, but I’m just happy to win this one” – Lorraine Hyde survives nerve-shredding Lakeside opener

For Lorraine Hyde, her return to the Lakeside stage felt like a rollercoaster. The Scottish thrower did reach the next round of the WDF World Championship, but it was anything but straightforward.

After a tense match in which both players struggled to find the winning doubles, Hyde’s overriding emotion was relief: “I just wanted to get past this first game… I’m happy for the win.”

Hyde already knew Emine Dursun well. “I’ve played her before — in the Denmark Open final in May — and I watched her all day there. She was really good. She was averaging A+ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have got a game here.’ And I watched her first game here and she was very, very steady.”

That familiarity meant Hyde understood the danger. “I knew that I had to play well… but I wasn’t myself. We still got there in the end, thankfully.”

For some players, an unknown opponent can be unsettling, but Hyde felt that knowing Dursun so well came with its own complications. “Sometimes it’s better to know who you’re playing. If you’re playing an unknown, you don’t know what to expect — but I knew what to expect from her. I know she’s a very, very good player.”

That knowledge, however, also brought pressure. “You’re obviously thinking, ‘I need to play well here,’ and if you don’t then you’re going to get beat. I just needed to do my thing, which I didn’t really do, but we still got there in the end.”

During the crucial stages of the second set — when Dursun missed a string of darts at double and Hyde couldn’t initially capitalise — the Scot admitted her head was spinning. “Well, I can’t really say what was going through my mind! I was like, ‘Oh, come on, just hit it.’ Darts is a frustrating thing — when you’re missing, it’s hard to hit it. I was like, ‘Please, just get that one and get one up on her. Get in front of her. Take the throw.’ Which I did — and then she broke back. I was like, ‘Haha.’”

Hyde hopes the nerves will now ease heading into the next round. “My first game is always the one I overthink. After that I kind of relax, so I’m hoping so. But I’m just happy to win this game.”

Her season as a whole gives her confidence. With highlights including the World Masters title and a semi-final at the Dutch Open, Hyde feels she’s in a quietly strong place.

“Compared to last year, I don’t feel like I’ve played like myself — and I’ve won more this year. The win at the World Masters came at the right time because I needed some sort of boost.”

And despite her struggles against Dursun, she believes she has the form required to make a deep run at Lakeside. “Yeah, I think so. I’m confident in myself — I know I can beat anyone here. I’m just going to take each game as it goes. Got past the first one… we’ll see what happens from now.”

Notable this year: the absence of Beau Greaves, who dominated the women's field in the WDF in recent seasons. Her move to the PDC makes this edition unprecedentedly open. Hyde agrees: "Absolutely. Everyone knows: if Beau competes, she's the top favorite. I've played well against her here before, but even that wasn't enough. She's just on a different level. But now that she's not here, the tournament is wide open. Anyone can win this."

Whether she sees herself as a contender? "Yes, I think I have it in me. But I stick to my approach: one race at a time. I survived the first one - now we'll see what comes next."