"I’ve done better than Gary Anderson my hero so I'll take that": 15-year-old Mitchell Lawrie quips amid incredible WDF World Championship debut win

Fifteen-year-old Scottish prospect Mitchell Lawrie announced himself in style at the 2025 WDF World Championship, sweeping aside Japan’s Tomoya Maruyama 3–0 on his Lakeside debut.

Lawrie described his performance as “a very good one,” stressing the importance of settling early at the iconic venue sharing an assuredness while not being too over confident on his WDF World Championship debut.

“I've always said the first round’s the hardest one to get by, and now that I’m by that, it’s just a free hit,” he said to the WDF post match. “I’m buzzing, to be honest. I just can’t wait to get back up on that stage on Wednesday.”

The teenager has enjoyed a remarkable year, continued recently with strong form in Gibraltar while competing with the JDC. With the JDC World Final at Alexandra Palace still to come, he believes that experience has given him the ideal preparation for this week.

“We said if Gibraltar didn’t go well, we could class it as prep, but I think it went better than prep, to be honest,” he explained. “That was my practice for coming here. I was really good over there and I hope to continue the way I played over there here.”

Playing on the Lakeside stage for the first time was clearly a moment he cherished. Lawrie even allowed himself a joke at the expense of one of his idols. “I’ve done better than Gary Anderson anyway, so I’ve done better than my hero — so I’ll take that!” he laughed.

One of the highlights of his victory came with his brilliant 145 checkout, which he celebrated by sprinting towards his family. “When I left 145 again, I had a chuckle to myself, and then when I saw it go in, I just ran over to my family. The photographer’s not happy with me because he’s on the left side, but it just felt right.”

Despite his young age, Lawrie showed impressive composure. He admitted the opening moments weren’t perfect, but insisted nerves weren’t to blame. “I wasn’t nervous in the first leg, it might have looked like nerves, but I just missed,” he said. “I told myself, ‘No more chances.’ Thankfully I took that first leg in the first set.”

From there, he grew stronger, producing a superb 10-darter late in the match and coming close to a 154 finish. He is now preparing for a second-round clash against 2019 Lakeside semi-finalist Jason Brandon, and believes this performance can act as a springboard.

“I always believe in myself. You have to be confident in yourself or you’ll never really win that much,” he said. “Jason Brandon next — obviously a very good player… but I know if I play my game then I can possibly beat him.”