"I'm the first number one after Beau Greaves" – Lerena Rietbergen admits pressure as top seed survives huge scare at Lakeside

Lerena Rietbergen began her 2025 Women’s WDF World Championship campaign with a win, but the top seed needed every ounce of resilience to escape a dramatic first-round battle against Aletta Wajer.

After surviving seven missed match darts and sealing victory with a stunning 142 checkout, the Dutch star made no attempt to hide the weight of expectation she felt on her return to the Lakeside stage.

“It was a tense game, but I got it over the line,” she said moments after her narrow 2–1 win. “She was playing good, her doubles were on point — but happily for me she didn’t throw the last one.”

Rietbergen arrived at Lakeside carrying the largest target on her back as the first number one seed to follow the era-defining Beau Greaves. And she admitted that the role comes with a different intensity.

“Yeah, I’m more experienced now, but still you’ve got the pressure — being top seed, being here again,” she said. “I’m the first one after Beau, so you’ve got the expectations from people. But I’m happy I got it over the line.”

That pressure was visible on stage long before the match’s chaotic ending. After a messy second leg of set two, she even gave herself a sarcastic clap — a moment that summed up her frustration as she tried to find rhythm.

The match turned truly wild in the deciding set, when Wajer — playing her final tournament for the foreseeable future — earned seven match darts in the fourth leg. Each one slipped away, and Rietbergen acknowledged just how close she came to crashing out.

“How many moments did I think I was done? Too much. Too much,” she said. “It was just blank for me actually … I just thought: hit the 20s, just the 20s.”

What followed was the shot of the night: a 142 checkout to snatch the final leg of the final set, rescuing a match that had been hanging by a thread.

Rietbergen believes the escape may ease some of the tension going forward, but she isn’t making predictions.

“I hope so. I really do hope so,” she said when asked if the best of her game will now come through. “But you never know. It’s darts — you never know what happens.”

What is certain is that the top seed advances — shaken but still standing — after one of the most gripping matches of the tournament so far.