Preview Sunday at WDF World Championship at Lakeside: Teenage sensation Mitchell Lawrie opens debut run as defending champion McGuirk returns

At the WDF World Championship we have reached the third day. 15-year-old top talent Mitchell Lawrie makes his debut in the men's tournament with Paige Pauling, Jenson Walker, Jim McEwan, defending champion Shane McGuirk and the new faster Liam Maendl-Lawrance all in action on Sunday.

In the opening match of the afternoon session, Marko Kantele makes his comeback at Lakeside 20 years after his first appearance. In 2005 he lost 3-1 to Simon Whitlock in the second round at the BDO World Championship. The 57-year-old Finn has tons of experience and has also played five times at the PDC World Darts Championship. Kantele will take on Dalibor Smolik. The 46-year-old Czech makes his World Cup debut.

Priscilla Steenbergen has participated in the WDF World Championship twice before, a place in the quarter-finals in 2022 was her best performance. The 28-year-old Dutch will meet Nina Lech-Musialska in her opening match. Remarkably, Lech-Musialska had to play a preliminary round match due to a mistake in the draw. The Polish player, who is making her World Cup debut this year, won that match 2-0. However, she did not make much of an impression, so Steenbergen starts this match as the high favorite.

Jim McEwan made his debut at the WDF World Cup in 2022, reaching the quarter-finals then, where he only narrowly lost 4-3 to later world champion Neil Duff. Three years later, the now 58-year-old Scot is ready to pop again at his second World Championship. McEwan will take on Stephen Rosney in his opening match. The Irishman is making his debut at a World Cup this year.

At 69 years old, Paula Murphy is the oldest participant in this WDF World Cup. The American also participated in the previous three editions and reached the second round twice. Her opponent in the first round is Emine Dursun. The 24-year-old Turkish is celebrating her debut at a World Championship this year.

German Liam Maendl-Lawrance is in it for the third consecutive year at the WDF World Championship. Last year, the 21-year-old dart player lost 3-2 to Sybren Gijbels in the second round. Maendl-Lawrance won this year's Swedish Open and is seeded 13th at Lakeside. His opponent in the second round is Caleb Hope. The New Zealander rather surprisingly defeated experienced Englishman Darren Johnson 3-0 in the opening round.

The evening session will open with the duel between Jenson Walker and Jiri Brejcha. Walker has been known as a major talent for some time. The 18-year-old Englishman became world junior champion in 2023 and added a European title a year later. This year, he won the Czech Open. In his first match at the WDF World Championship, he will take on Jiri Brejcha. The 42-Czech won this year's Summer Classic and Spring Classic and like his opponent is making his debut at the WDF World Championship.

Next it is Aletta Wajer's turn to take the Lakeside stage. The 32-year-old reached the quarterfinals last year and hopes to top that performance this year. Earlier this year, she showed her good form by winning the British Classic. Wajer will take on Aaja Jalbert in her opening match. The 21-year-old American won this year's Witch City Open and is making her debut at the World Championships.

Bradley Kirk is there for the second year in a row at the WDF World Cup. Last year, the 31-year-old Englishman lost in the first round to his compatriot James Beeton. This time he hopes to do better and for that he has to get past Jeff Springer Jr. The American stranded on his debut last year just like Kirk in the opening round (2-0 against Englishman Aaron Turner).

17-year-old Paige Pauling is one of the biggest talents in women's darts. She won the European junior title this year, but has also already won three women's ranking titles. Pauling, who won the girls' tournament at Lakeside last year, could go far in her first adult entry. In her opening match she will meet German World Cup debutant Lisa Zollikofer, who won this year's Antwerp Open.

The youngest entrant in the men's tournament is 15-year-old Mitchell Lawrie. The Scot is known as one of the biggest talents in the world of darts. He already won this year's World Masters and the World Open in the juniors. He has also been successful in the men's competition, winning the British Open and the Welsh Open. Lawrie will take on Tomoya Maruyama in his opening match. The Japanese player is celebrating his debut at the WDF World Championship this year.

The evening will be closed by a Dutchman, specifically Stefan Schroder. The 38-year-old darter won this year's Hungarian Open and is making his debut at a World Cup. In his opening match he will meet Shane McGuirk. The reigning world champion was not seeded as series leader this year and defeated Petri Rasmus 3-1 in the opening round.