Schedule final day at WDF World Championship 2024: Paul Lim one win away from historic world title
WDF
Sunday night the finals of the WDF World Championship are scheduled. Both in girls and boys and in the ladies and men's tournament we will be looking for the new world champion. It is especially exciting for the final of the men's tournament where 70-year-old Paul Lim can make history as the oldest world champion ever.
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The final night at Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green gets underway at 6 p.m. with the final in the girls' tournament between Paige Pauling and Sophie McKinlay. England's Pauling was clearly too strong for Belgium's Jentl Fransen in her semifinal. But McKinlay's final place is particularly striking. After all, the Scot has to play twice tonight, since she also managed to qualify for the final of the women's tournament. At the age of 18, she thus faces an enormous challenge.
So then McKinlay gets to compete a second time this evening. She will take on Beau Greaves in the final of the women's tournament. The two-year older Greaves can already win her third WDF world title after being the best in 2022 and 2023. In her semifinal she had no trouble with Deta Hedman and Greaves is known to be able to raise her level when necessary. McKinlay therefore faces a particularly difficult task.
70-year-old Paul Lim goes hunting for his first world title
Lim wants to make history
The evening concludes with the men's final. And what a final! 70-year-old Paul Lim surprised friend and foe this week by reaching the final for the first time in his career, 42 (!) years after his debut at a World Championship (then with the BDO). Lim already made history in 1990 by becoming the only player ever to throw a nine darter at Lakeside. Can he rewrite history again by becoming world champion?
There is one more person standing in the way of that feat and that is Shane McGuirk. The 29-year-old Irishman has been impressing all week and did not lose a single set, in fact, he lost only eleven legs in his five matches at this World Championship. In every match he consistently averages around 93 and if he reaches that level in the final, he seems to be the favorite for the world title. A final, however, is always something special, there are extra nerves involved and a packed hall also creates extra pressure, so it remains to be seen how McGuirk will deal with that. He can already become the first Irish world champion, although the same goes for Lim who can become the first Singaporean with a world title. The verdict is likely to fall between 10 and 11 p.m.
Live stream for Lakeside 2024
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The final will be shown on TV channel Blaze. Elsewhere all operations will be broadcast on the YouTube channel of GREAT! game. This means anyone with an Internet connection can watch all 10 tournament days for free, no matter where they are in the world.
Distribution of prize money at Lakeside 2024
The total prize pool for the WDF Lakeside World Championship includes £221,000 in prize money. That is a lot less than in 2023, when it was £257,000.
The main prize for the winner of the men's and women's tournament did remain the same. The winner in the men's will take home 50,000 pounds in prize money. The winner in the women's will receive a check for 25,000 pounds.
Format
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Gentlemen
First round: Best of 3 sets
Second round: Best of 5 sets
Third round: Best of 5 sets
Quarterfinals: Best of 7 sets
Semifinals: Best of 9 sets
Final: Best of 11 sets
Ladies
First round: Best of 3 sets
Second round: Best of 5 sets
Quarterfinals: Best of 7 sets
Semifinals: Best of 9 sets
Final: Best of 11 sets
Sunday, Dec. 8 (from 5 p.m.)
Girls final
Paige Pauling v Sophie McKinlay
Boys finale
Jenson Walker v Archie Self
Ladies' final
Beau Greaves v Sophie McKinlay
Gentlemen's final
Shane McGuirk v Paul Lim
A stunning night at the Lakeside 🤩
— WDF Darts (@DartsWDF) December 7, 2024
Our final lineups are set, with Sophie McKinlay, Archie Self, Beau Greaves and Paul Lim marching on to title deciders! #Lakeside2024 pic.twitter.com/gri1KqnvgE
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- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026