Our first four 2025 WDF World Championship finalists were confirmed on Saturday afternoon at the Lakeside.
Mitchell Lawrie and Jenson Walker served up an absolute Lakeside classic as the 15-year-old sensation Lawrie became the first teenager to reach a WDF World Championship final.
Walker became the first player to take a set off Lawrie in the tournament so far, claiming the first 3-1, before the young Scot battled back to win the second set with a tops-tops 100 finish.
The next two also went Lawrie’s way before Walker halved the deficit after the break by winning the fifth set with one 13-darter and two 14-darters.
‘The Interceptor’ kept the momentum going to lead set six 2-0 before Lawrie roared back with successive 104 and 112 outs before wrapping it up with a 14-darter.
Set seven was one way traffic, Lawrie wrapping up victory with a 125 finish on the bull with Walker on 16 after 9 darts. The pair finished with 19 maximums between them, Lawrie averaging 96.33 as he became the youngest finalist here since Jelle Klaasen in 2006.
Deta Hedman is through to her fourth Women’s World Championship final after an impressive semi-final victory over Priscilla Steenbergen.
Dutch player Steenbergen, who’d never been this far at Lakeside before, took a scrappy first set 3-2 courtesy of an excellent 92 finish.
Steenbergen won the first leg of the second set but it was one-way traffic for Hedman from that point, ‘The Caribbean Queen’ winning the next nine legs without reply to cruise into the final.
Hedman produced two 13-darters and three 16-darters in that run, finishing with a tournament-best average of 82.24.
Florian Preis twice came from behind to dump out a second English player in this year’s Youth World Championships and reach the Lakeside final.
Mason Teese took the first set in impressive fashion, producing outs of 130 and 100, but was pegged back by Preis going into the break.
‘Tungsten’ went back in front with set three, taking out 84 on the bull after Preis had missed a set dart, but didn’t win another leg after that. Preis produced outs of 47, 123 and 72 to win the fourth set before sweeping the fifth 3-0.
It was an 85.43 average in the end for the German, who’ll meet Mitchell Lawrie or Kaya Baysal in the final.
Rebecca Allen swept all before her at the World Darts Festival last month and she kept that form going in her Lakeside debut, kicking off the Girls’ World Championship with a 2-0 win over Ruby Grey.
Grey entered as second seed and produced a 95 finish in the second leg of the first set but that was the only one she registered, Allen sweeping to victory in double-quick time.
‘Sparkles’ will bid for the biggest title of her career on Sunday against either Paige Pauling or Zehra Gemi.
Photos: Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics
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WDF Majors
Lakeside
WDF World Championships
