Neil Duff edges past close friend Barry Copeland as 15-year-old Archie Self stars in reaching Boys semi-finals

On the men's side, Neil Duff qualified for the Quarter-Finals of the WDF World Championship. The Northern Irishman was the strongest in his match against compatriot Barry Copeland, winning it 3-2.

In the first set, things were even and Duff seemed on his way to holding to seal the set. However, he missed several doubles to decide it, eventually allowing Copeland to snatch the set away from him 2-3 to take the lead.

Duff grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second set but again could not push through. Copeland remained stoic and managed to come back to 2-2. In the last leg, Copeland had six darts to win the deciding leg but he missed the opportunity. The number 3 seed took advantage and evened the score to 1-1 in sets.

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The 2022 world champion continued to falter but Copeland missed too many doubles to take advantage. Through a nifty 90-finish, Duff eventually managed to win the third set 3-1 to take the lead for the first time in the match.

Copeland came back to 2-2 to send the match to a last-set decider, but in the end it was Duff who used his experience to take the all-deciding set, thus clinching the match. In the next round, the Northern Irishman will take on American Jason Brandon.

While English talent Archie Self managed to defeat Kendji Steinbach to reach the semi-finals in the Boys tournament. The 15-year-old is seen as a bright spark for the future.

Self scored superbly in the opening few legs handing Steinbach a 0-2 deficit. Steinbach, however, was not deterred, kept his cool and came back to 2-2 with a 102 finish. In the deciding leg, the young Briton then produced a great 14-darter to take the lead.

The 16-year-old Dutchman seemed to get into his rhythm better in the second set and led 2-0 thanks in part to a 12-darter. He had no resistance in the third leg either and was on double 18 after 15 arrows. However, he was unable to continue this in the deciding leg and eventually lost to the 15-year-old.