A bumper day's darting value at the WDF World Championship yesterday featured a double session with both Open and Women’s categories building momentum after Friday’s opening fireworks. The World Master opened his campaign for the double and twice champion Mikuru Suzuki returned to the stage in the Women's event.
Reigning Denmark Open monarch and fourth seed of fearsome repute, James Beeton, has thundered his way into the third round of this year’s WDF World Championship, after an afternoon in Frimley Green so dramatic it practically split the dusk Surrey skyline in two.
The Chester colossus was forced into mortal combat by Swedish titan Dennis Nilsson, a man whose reputation echoes through the Nordic tundra like a war horn. From the opening salvo, the match swung like a great pendulum of destiny.
Beeton snatched the first set in a nerve-shredding decider, only for the 49-year-old ‘Strongman' to retaliate with immediate vengeance. They repeated this dance of mutual destruction again, trading blows, sets and sanity, dragging the crowd into a frenzy of operatic tension.
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Then came the moment. With Beeton leading 2-1 in legs and Nilsson prowling ominously on 12, the Englishman summoned the gods of tungsten themselves and a Shanghai finish that sent the Lakeside walls trembling and the youngster relieved. No further drama required.
And now? The Englishman awaits a potential gladiatorial clash with young phenom Liam Maendl-Lawrance, provided the German prodigy survives the storming surge of New Zealand’s Caleb Hope, who earlier obliterated Darren Johnson in a merciless 3-0 whitewash. Hope, it appears, has brought more than optimism from the Southern Hemisphere — he has brought devastation.
But the Kiwis were not done shaking the earth. Ben Robb, a man built like a granite mountain and throwing like one too, dispatched Sweden’s Johan Engström 3-1, capping a catastrophic afternoon for Swedish tungsten. Robb now marches into a monumental showdown with former Lakeside king Neil Duff — a clash so combustible it should come with its own fire marshal.
The drama did not halt there, for the women took to the stage and delivered their own thunder. Czech warrior Jitka Cisarova sent yet another Swede to the canvas, outgunning Maud Jansson and earning herself a collision course with fifth seed Rhian O’Sullivan.
Then Welsh prodigy Eve Watson strolled onto the Lakeside stage with icy calm and departed with a scorching 2-0 victory over Australia’s Joanne Hadley, earning herself a deliciously dangerous second-round test against the legendary Aileen de Graaf.
The evening session saw Lakeside trembling beneath the weight of the ‘Dutch Sequoia’ as the top seed, the titan, the tungsten colossus Jimmy van Schie marched, unflinching, into the third round with a merciless 3-0 obliteration of Alex Williams.
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The Dutchman continues his regal crusade for the WDF World Championship crown – a glittering companion to the World Masters trophy he seized earlier this year with all the subtlety of a lightning bolt hitting a cathedral.
But before JVS took centre stage, the night delivered chaos, carnage, and the sweet sound of shattered predictions.
The mayhem began with Finnish firebrand Jonas Masalin, who strode onto the stage and detonated every accumulator, coupon, and betting slip within a five-mile radius. His victim? The heavily fancied former Isle of Man Masters champion Ryan Hogarth, a man many expected to breeze through Frimley Green on a cloud of serenity. Instead, Scotland’s Hogarth was ambushed, dismantled, and sent packing as Masalin set up a date with eighth seed Corné Groeneveld. Thunderclap number one.
Then the Lakeside faithful were thrust headfirst into a swirling tornado of drama: Daniel Bauerdick vs Karl Schaefer, a contest of such raw chaos it felt like the darts equivalent of two gladiators hurling spears in a storm. Schaefer – despite his Germanic name flying the Aussie flag – surged to a 2-1 lead, only for Bauerdick, the actual German, to awaken like a forged-in-fire kraken and roar back to steal a 3-2 epic. It wasn’t pretty but it was certainly dramatic. Daniel’s reward? Fifth seed Benjamin Pratnemer.
Next came heartbreak for those who backed the Belgian blunt-force machine Brian Raman. Many had tipped him for a heroic march deep into the draw, but destiny cares not for forecasts. After dragging himself back from a 0-2 abyss, Raman was slain in the final deciding leg by Dutch marksman Jeffrey Sparidaans, who now prepares for a skirmish against another Belgian challenger in the shape of François Schweyen.
The Women’s Championship also took centre stage with two tempestuous clashes. Canada’s Carli Maria edged experienced German warrior Irina Armstrong to book a showdown with fourth seed Nicole Regnaud — Australia’s powerhouse queen of composure.
And then the Lakeside roof rattled as Japanese superstar Mikuru Suzuki, adored across continents, survived a razor-thin final-set decider against Finnish PDC Women’s World Matchplay contender Kirsi Viinikainen. It was steel versus serenity — and the Empress of Osaka prevailed.
Finally, as the curtain fell, Jimmy van Schie returned to sweep aside Alex Williams with the regal nonchalance of a monarch looking to perch of another comfy throne. A statement. A warning. A declaration of intent carved in titanium.
And so ends a roaring night in Frimley Green. The Sabbath brings two more sessions — two more chapters in this sprawling tungsten epic. The Lakeside drama is only just warming up.
WDF World Championship 2025 ( Lakeside)
Saturday 29th November
EVENING RESULTS
Open Round 1: Ryan Hogarth 1-3 Jonas Masalin
Open Round 1: Karl Schaefer 2-3 Daniel Bauerdick
Open Round 1: Brian Raman 2-3 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Open Round 2: Jimmy van Schie 3-0 Alex Williams
Women's Round 1: Irina Armstrong 1-2 Maria Carli
Women's Round 1: Kirsi Viinikainen 1-2 Mikuru Suzuki
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