PREVIEW 2024 WDF Lakeside Men's World Championship including return of Paul Lim and debut of Matthew Edgar
WDF
The 2024 WDF Lakeside Men’s World Championship is upon us with the showpiece tournament taking place at the home of World Darts between November 29 - December 8, 2024 with Jimmy van Schie leading the way as top seed. Our preview looks ahead to some of the main talking points ahead of the action getting underway.
Unlike previous years, the Lakeside World Championship has a different feel to it with the tournament seeing near sold out crowds across the tournament and despite many of the top names who initially qualified instead deciding to head to Ally Pally, it creates a wide open field with many of the top seeds being fairly unknown or being untested in this format.
But as well as the unknown, there is the known as Matthew Edgar, Paul Lim and Neil Duff among others will be involved and will be some of the top names. Who will take home the title at the home of World Darts?
Read also
Recap of last year’s tournament
Last year saw Andy Baetens seal the title. But unlike Neil Duff before him, he will not return to defend his title. He has since become a PDC Tour Card holder since neither will the finalist as Chris Landman who lost out rampantly 6-1 in sets has also joined him on the circuit.
Of those who reached the latter stages so Quarter-Finals or better only Neil Duff and Dennis Nilsson will return. Wesley Plaisier picked the Ally Pally route while Danny Lauby also plays PDC now. Nilsson who lost in the semi-finals 5-2 to Baetens will play. While Jonny Tata was a late withdrawal. He also lost to the top seed at the time.
Nilsson will be one of the favourites and as an unseeded player will be dangerous. He faces Scottish ace Gary Stone. While Duff on his return also gets a tough run-in with Darren Johnson or Reece Colley set to face off against the 2022 champion.
Porter and Van Schie lead seeds
Danny Porter suffered an early exit last year to Arjan Konterman. But this spurred him on for the 2024 season. He finished top of the tree albeit Jimmy van Schie who is second seed has since become WDF World Number One.
Porter has won five ranking titles and heads into his second appearance full of confidence. He also has comparisons to Tony David slightly in that he has struggled to adapt to the brightness of the stage lights like the 2002 Champion and he is looking forward to getting a proper crack of it. He will face Michael Cassar in his opening game potentially and will start on Saturday November 30th.
“I didn’t play my best at Lakeside last year, not even close. This year, I’m feeling good. My game is more consistent, I’m more mentally prepared and I’m ready,” said Porter to the WDF’s website last week.
“As top seed I’ve got a target on my back for other players but I don’t look at it like that. There are 16 seeds and we can all play darts. To be fair, all 48 players can play darts, that’s why they’ve qualified. I just happened to go to a lot of events and won a lot.”
Jimmy van Schie though is perhaps the favourite and rightfully so. He has won a Challenge Tour this year and has romped up the Order of Merit winning eight titles including the Czech Open just this past week.
There are mirroring qualities too with the Dutchman and Baetens who won the Czech Open the week before Lakeside too. He is also into the final of the MODUS Super Series Week 11 so is already playing en route to being involved in the showpiece.
He will be seen as one of the favourites to get through Q-School and faces either Patrik Kovacs, a tough Hungarian who is well known for appearances in the World Cup and also Euro Tour or Swedish ace Bjorn Lejon.
Lim set for magical Lakeside return, Edgar set for debut and final hurrah
Others involved include Neil Duff as mentioned. He is third seed ahead of Brandon Weening and former World Trophy champion Peter Machin.
Liam Maendl-Lawrance who polarised darts fans during his emergence onto the European Tour last season will make his debut with both the German and also Benjamin Pratnemer who sits eighth not easy on the eye in terms of their throwing styles.
Kai Fan Leung, Thomas Junghans, Barry Copeland and Ryan Hogarth also emerge as part of the top 16 seeds and will take their spot in the second round. But it is perhaps further down that gleams some of the leading stories.
Matthew Edgar managed to achieve a darting dream in qualifying for the Lakeside but is open and honest about the fact that he is likely to bow out of the sport in a similar vein to Mark Webster due to commentary work and also injury travails. But while the latter might be the case, he still wanted to fulfil one more ambition and for 'Prime Time', that is playing at the historic Lakeside. He faces a tough test though on the opening Saturday in Dutchman Jarno Bottenberg. He beat Jamie Lewis in some style last year who had a similar sort of profile in being lauded before the tournament.
But he was promptly well beaten by the Dutchman before he fell promptly to Danny Lauby. Perhaps the main name though is Paul Lim. He returns to Lakeside for the first time since 1994 and also a venue that saw him hit the famous first nine-dart finish at a World Championship. A moment that has seen Lim lauded worldwide. But he also has a Dutch dynamo lurking in the form of Moreno Blom. That will be a standout though on Monday night.
Others who can perhaps cause some shocks include 'The Truth' Jacob Taylor, former Development Tour prodigy Bradley Kirk and Shane McGuirk. Reece Colley also who sits in that Johnson/Duff section is also well known for exploits on the PDC Tour and won the England Masters and World Open this season.
All sit in the section where they will enter in the first round which starts on Friday. With many also being late replacements, it means that those who have been seeded by right could be in trouble.
Who is missing?
But these replacements were due to a myriad of top names withdrawing including two time World Master, Wesley Plaisier who now heads onto the PDC.
Alexander Merkx will also play at the PDC World Darts Championship as will Ben Robb. Jonny Tata also withdrew as did Aaron Morrison and also Leonard Gates.
Connor Scutt also will play at Ally Pally and return to the PDC Tour in 2025 as he lauded the WDF for not leaving it awkward between them after he picked the PDC over them. For those unaware, the PDC rules dictate that those who qualify for both can only play in one. This means that Plaisier, Gates etc have since snubbed the Lakeside in order to play at the PDC edition. A rule initially not brought in for the WDF's return with many players including Brian Raman, Jules van Dongen among others playing both despite securing Tour Cards or World Championship spots.
But that rule was quickly dispensed with giving players a yearly dilemma as to which tournaments they choose to play.
Format (all best of)
Men
R1 – 3 sets
R2 – 5 sets
R3 – 5 sets
QF – 7 sets
SF – 9 sets
Prize Money
Albeit the Prize Money has been cut for this year which perhaps gives certain players less license to come over and chase the win especially those not qualified for Ally Pally also.
The winner of the men's tournament still gets 50,000. The runner-up now gets 16,000 pounds. So the winner of the men's tournament at Lakeside gets more than three times as much as the losing finalist. Players who lose in the earlier rounds also lose out. The starting money is now 750 pounds, which was 1,000 last year.
Schedule
Friday 29th November
7pm
Men’s R1 - Brian Raman (BEL) v Corne Groeneveld (NED)
Men’s R1 - Scott Walters (ENG) v Craig Brown (NZL)
Men’s R1 - Francois Schweyen (BEL) v Michael Cassar (AUS)
Men’s R1 - Carl Wilkinson (ENG) v Jacob Taylor (CAN)
Saturday 30th November
1pm
Men’s R1 - Jordan Brooks (ENG) v Jun Matsuda (JPN)
Women’s R1 - Anca Zijlstra (NED) v Jitka Cisarova (CZE)
Men’s R1 - Mark Barilli (SCO) v Shane McGuirk (IRE)
Women’s R1 - Wendy Harper (NZL) v Greta Tekauer (HUN)
Men’s R1 - Patrik Kovacs (HUN) v Bjorn Lejon (SWE)
7pm
Men’s R1 - Matthew Edgar (ENG) v Jarno Bottenberg (NED)
Women’s R1 - Amanda Loch (AUS) v Kirsi Viinikainen (FIN)
Men’s R2 - #1 Danny Porter (AUS) v Schweyen/Cassar
Women’s R1 - Kirsty Hutchinson (ENG) v Veronika Ihasz (HUN)
Men’s R2 - #16 Martyn Turner (ENG) v Raman/Groeneveld
Sunday 1st December
1pm
Men’s R1 - Sybren Gijbels (BEL) v Kevin Luke (USA)
Women’s R1 - Lorraine Hyde (SCO) v Mayumi Ouchi (JPN)
Men’s R1 - James Beeton (ENG) v Bradley Kirk (ENG)
Women’s R1 - Paula Murphy (USA) v Paula Jacklin (ENG)
Men’s R2 - #13 Edwin Torbjornsson (SWE) v Barilli/McGuirk
7pm
Men’s R1 - Aaron Turner (ENG) v Jeff Springer Jr (USA)
Women’s R1 - Lisa Ashton (ENG) v Sophie McKinlay (SCO)
Men’s R2 - #12 Cliff Prior (ENG) v Walters/Brown
Women’s R2 - #5 Nicole Regnaud (NZL) v Harper/Tekauer
Men’s R1 - Mike Gillet (WAL) v Ky Smith (AUS)
Monday 2nd December
1pm
Men’s R1 - Dennis Nilsson (SWE) v Howard Jones (AUS)
Women’s R1 - Lerena Rietbergen (NED) v Maud Jansson (SWE)
Men’s R1 - Laszlo Kadar (ROM) v Hannes Schnier (AUT)
Men’s R1 - Darren Johnson (ENG) v Reece Colley (ENG)
7pm
Men’s R1 - Moreno Blom (NED) v Paul Lim (SGP)
Women’s R2 - #4 Deta Hedman (ENG) v Hutchinson/Ihasz
Men’s R2 - #4 Brandon Weening (AUS) v Brooks/Matsuda
Men’s R2 - #5 Peter Machin (AUS) v Gillet/Smith
Tuesday 3rd December
1pm
Men’s R2 - #8 Benjamin Pratnemer (SLO) v Wilkinson/Taylor
Women’s R2 - #8 Desi Mercer (NZL) v Zijlstra/Cisarova
Men’s R2 - #9 Thomas Junghans (SWI) v Beeton/Kirk
Men’s R2 - #15 Ryan Hogarth (SCO) v Edgar/Bottenberg
7pm
Men’s R2 - #2 Jimmy van Schie (NED) v Kovacs/Lejon
Women’s R2 - #1 Beau Greaves (ENG) v Loch/Viinikainen
Men’s R2 - #7 Kai-Fan Leung (HKG) v Blom/Lim
Men’s R2 - #3 Neil Duff (NIR) v Johnson/Colley
Wednesday 4th December
1pm
Men’s R2 - #14 Barry Copeland (NIR) v Turner/Springer Jr
Women’s R2 - #6 Aletta Wajer (NED) v Murphy/Jacklin
Men’s R2 - #6 Liam Maendl-Lawrance (GER) v Gijbels/Luke
Men’s R2 - #11 Jason Brandon (USA) v Kadar/Schnier
7pm
Men’s R2 - #10 Gary Stone (SCO) v Nilsson/Jones
Women’s R2 - #3 Rhian O’Sullivan (WAL) v Rietbergen/Jansson
Men’s R3 - Porter/Schweyen/Cassar v M Turner/Raman/Groeneveld
Men’s R3 - Weening/Brooks/Matsuda v Torbjornsson/Barilli/McGuirk
Thursday 5th December
1pm
Men’s R3 - Pratnemer/Wilkinson/Taylor v Junghans/Beeton/Kirk
Boys QF - #3 Ralfs Laumanis (LAT) v Lex Paeshuyse (BEL)
Men’s R3 - Machin/Gillet/Smith v Prior/Walters/Brown
Women’s R2 - #2 Aileen de Graaf (NED) v Hyde/Ouchi
Men’s R3 - Maendl-Lawrance/Gijbels/Luke v Brandon/Kadar/Schnier
7pm
Men’s R3 - Duff/Johnson/Colley v Copeland/Turner/Springer Jr
Boys QF - #2 Kendji Steinbach (NED) v Archie Self (ENG)
Men’s R3 - Van Schie/Kovacs/Lejon v Hogarth/Edgar/Bottenberg
Women’s R2 - #7 Irina Armstrong (GER) v Ashton/McKinlay
Men’s R3 - Leung/Blom/Lim v Stone/Nilsson/Jones
Friday 6th December
1pm
Boys’ QF - #4 Balazs Szotak (HUN) v Florian Preis (GER)
Women’s QF - TBC
Men’s QF - TBC
Women’s QF - TBC
Men’s QF - TBC
7pm
Boys’ QF - #1 Jenson Walker (ENG) v Mason Teese (ENG)
Women’s QF - TBC
Men’s QF - TBC
Women’s QF - TBC
Men’s QF - TBC
Saturday 7th December
2pm (Order TBC)
Girls’ SF - #1 Paige Pauling (ENG) v Jentl Fransen (BEL)
Boys’ SF - Steinbach/Self v Laumanis/Paeshuyse
Women’s SF
Men’s SF
7pm (Order TBC)
Girls’ SF - #2 Sophie McKinlay (SCO) v Aurora Fochesato (ITA)
Boys’ SF - Walker/Teese v Szotak/Preis
Women’s SF
Men’s SF
Sunday 8th December
5pm
Girls’ Final
Boys’ Final
Women’s Final
Men’s Final
THREE DAYS TO GO!
— WDF Darts (@DartsWDF) November 26, 2024
Not long now until the 2024 WDF World Championships get underway at the iconic Lakeside!
Tickets: https://t.co/8eOLoNERGY pic.twitter.com/1nyn2Vpbdx