WDF World Championship Round-Up | 15-year-old sensation Mitchell Lawrie dominates Jeff Springer Jr as Ben Robb and Jimmy van Schie shine
WDF
Mitchell Lawrie has done it again! The 15-year-old sensation has won his second match of the day on the Lakeside stage after booking his boys semi-final spot. He will also play in the men's Quarter-Finals.
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Lawrie will face Belgian ace Francois Schweyen in the latter stages after averaging 93.06 in a dominant win over Jeff Springer Jr on the big stage. He dropped just one leg in doing so.
He made it 12 successive sets on the Lakeside stage and for the first two sets of his tie with the American was untouchable and only lost a leg in the latter stages. A lot was made about his potential to adapt to the big stage, Luke Littler of course failed on the Lakeside stage as a rising teen but Lawrie has taken to it like a duck to water and he is one of many top names through on Thursday night.
Van Schie shines and Lawrie's opponent in boys tournament set
Top seed Jimmy van Schie opened the night against Paul Krohne with the Dutchman producing a statement win over the German 3-1 with a 95.84.
He denied a trio of ton-plus checkouts from Krohne and now faces a blockbuster tie against Shane McGuirk in the Quarter-Finals. Krohne took the opening set of the tie kicking off with a 120 out before surviving five set darts. Krohne was back at it with another mega ton plus out shot in the form of a 152 but this was to solely hold.
Van Schie hit a 12-darter in the decider of the second set to draw level but surviving two set darts to take the third set 3-2 and he concluded it from there to set up the tie with McGuirk with a great 112 checkout to get over the line.
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15-year-old Kaya Baysal will face Mitchell Lawrie in the boys semi-final on Saturday. Having won senior events this year, he is very much the next cab off the rank alongside Lawrie when it comes to future stars of the game and while he wasn't best pleased with his display in his post match interview. He did shine.
He saw off Thees Kogelnik 2-1 taking out an incredible 164 checkout en route to set up a meeting with one of the stars of the men's tournament.
Ben Robb then added his name to the Quarter-Final line-up winning through in double quick time. It was another 90+ average for 'Big Rig' who now he has finally got the big stage wins is settling in and looking formidable. He saw off Stephen Rosney 3-0 as Robb had the last laugh against 'Chuckles'.
After Rosney had held, he took out 130 and then took the opening set from there before doubling his advantage averaging around 92 to seal it 3-1 and go 2-0 up.
After losing the opening leg, he won three straight to seal the win with Rosney missing crucial doubles to keep the match going and now Robb is into the last eight.
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Big Rig Ben Robb swaggers on the Lakeside stage
O'Sullivan remains in ladies reckoning as Walker superbly defeats Raymond Smith
In the ladies tournament, Rhian O'Sullivan has joined Eve Watson in the last eight from Wales and will face Maria Carli for a spot in the semi-finals. Seen as one of the favourites this week, O'Sullivan swept aside Jitka Cisarova to seal her spot.
With Sophie McKinlay's win earlier, that line-up is set with Rietbergen to face Watson, Carli faces O'Sullivan while Lorraine Hyde takes on Priscilla Steenbergen and finally Deta Hedman will face McKinlay. All four are played tomorrow.
Jenson Walker then took to the oche and after having to make a decision to play WDF over ADC, something he has lamented due to sudden rule changes he has made it count this week.
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He saw off Raymond Smith superbly 3-1 to book his spot against Ben Robb with four maximums, two-ton plus checkouts and an average of 92. He defeated 'The Guru' who himself picked this route over potentially playing Ally Pally.
The Interceptor took the opening set hitting a maximum, 177 and 120 checkout to do so to set an early statement. But Smith was back to level taking out 81 on double 13 for set two to make it 1-1.
Walker punished a missed set dart at the bull from Raymond Smith and went 2-1 up. With a 180, 136 and double 16, he took a break only to be broken back with a 130 12-darter but Walker took the last two legs to seal the win with a 16 and 17 darter.
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- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- 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