Preview Saturday WDF World Championship Lakeside: Will we get Van Schie v Lawrie in showpiece final?

At the WDF World Championship we have reached the semifinals in the men's, ladies' and youth tournament. Among the highlights include the continued progress of Jimmy van Schie and Mitchell Lawrie. Men's matches at this stage of the tournament will be played to best-of-9 legs. In the ladies' tournament, they will be played to best-of-5 sets and in the youth tournament in the boys to three winning sets and in the girls to two winning sets.

The afternoon session at Lakeside opens with a girls’ junior semifinal between England’s Ruby Grey and Ireland’s Rebecca Allen. Grey, the No. 2 seed, enters as the slight favourite and will look to underline her billing against the spirited Irish youngster.

Attention then shifts to the boys’ bracket, where Florian Preis meets Mason Teese. Preis produced one of the stories of the previous round by ousting defending champion Archie Self 2–0. The German now faces Teese, who booked his place in the semifinals with a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Hungary’s Benedek Szabo.

The first women’s semifinal pits Priscilla Steenbergen against the evergreen Deta Hedman. The 27-year-old Dutchwoman is making her third WDF World Championship appearance, though she has never previously gone beyond the last eight. Standing between her and a maiden final is the legendary Hedman. The 66-year-old English icon has won virtually everything darts has to offer—except a world title. Can “The Caribbean Queen” finally complete her lifelong quest?

The afternoon concludes with the opening men’s semifinal. Fifteen-year-old sensation Mitchell Lawrie has lit up the tournament, consistently posting 90-plus averages and progressing without dropping a set. Talk is already growing of a dream final against top seed Jimmy van Schie, but Lawrie must first get past Jenson Walker. The 19-year-old Englishman—last year’s boys’ finalist—earned his place with a strong win over Ben Robb in the quarterfinals.

The evening session begins with the second girls’ junior semifinal, as defending champion Paige Pauling faces Turkish debutant Zehra Gemi. Pauling is the clear favourite on paper, though Gemi has shown enough promise to suggest she could spring a surprise.

Lawrie returns to the stage for his second match of the day, this time in the boys’ junior semifinal. The Scot meets fellow 15-year-old Kaya Baysal, with both players already boasting senior-level titles this season—an indicator of the high standard expected.

Top seed Lerena Rietberge returns and takes on Wales’ Rhian O’Sullivan. Despite Rietbergen’s seeding, O’Sullivan—twice a World Championship finalist—may well hold the edge in experience and pedigree.

The evening concludes with the second men’s semifinal featuring Jimmy van Schie and Sybren Gijbels. Van Schie, this year’s No. 1 seed, impressed mightily in the quarterfinals with a 4–1 win over defending champion Shane McGuirk. Gijbels, meanwhile, is playing with complete freedom. The 27-year-old Belgian only entered the field as a reserve yet has already reeled off four victories. He enters his first World Championship semifinal as the underdog—though one clearly hungry for another upset.