The reigning monarch of the World Darts Federation (WDF) kingdom, Shane McGuirk, continues his iron-clad march toward yet more tungsten immortality, bulldozing ninth seed Stefan Schroder 3-1 in sets to plant his emerald-green flag firmly in round three.
Across the seas, thousands of Irish faithful huddled around screens, pints in hand, chanting their hero’s name — and McGuirk answered the call like a warrior forged in myth. After dropping the opening set to the dangerous Dutchman, the champion flicked some internal cosmic switch and transformed before our very eyes. Panic? Never. Champions are sculpted from rarer minerals, and The Arrow is carved from granite the colour of County Monaghan soil.
What followed was pure carnage: nine unanswered legs, a hurricane of precision tungsten so violent it left Schroder spinning helplessly, like a windmill in a storm. The defending king didn’t just steady the ship — he detonated every cannon on board. His next assignment: either Dutch eighth seed Corne Groeneveld or the icy Finn Jonas Masalin, as McGuirk prowls one step closer to the quarter-final pantheon.
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But the night belonged not just to royalty — it was a coronation rehearsal for the new blood of global darts. In the red-and-white corner came Jenson Walker, the Coventry comet, already a WDF major open winner and MODUS Champions Week conqueror. Walker barely needed to release the handbrake as he dispatched Czech hopeful Jiri Brejcha with a relaxed, almost casual 84 average. It looked less like a match and more like a warm-up jog before the main event — and that main event arrives soon in the towering form of North American stalwart David Fatum.
And then, from the blue-and-white corner, entered the boy wonder himself — Mitchell Lawrie, the 15-year-old phenomenon tearing through this Lakeside like he owns every inch of its carpet. Wee Sox obliterated Japan’s Tomoya Maruyama in a merciless whitewash, though the scoreline barely reflects the courage shown by the Japanese star. But destiny cares little for nobility — Lawrie marches on to a mouthwatering duel with number two seed Jason Brandon. Brace for volcanic impact.
'I WASN'T NERVOUS AT ALL': Mitchell Lawrie on his debut at the Lakeside
Elsewhere on this cinematic Sunday, Jeff Springer delivered a blistering 3-1 triumph over England’s Bradley Kirk. After splitting the opening two sets, The Stinger unleashed pure tungsten venom, claiming the next two without surrendering a single leg. Scotland’s Andy Davidson now stands in his crosshairs.
The Women’s Championship offered its own symphony of brilliance. English sensation Paige Pauling strolled majestically into round two, swatting aside Germany’s Lisa Zollikofer in straight sets. A showdown with Sophie McKinlay looms — a duel destined for fireworks. Joining her is Aletter Wajer, who dropped just one leg against American hopeful Aaja Jalbert to book a daunting all-Dutch clash with top seed Lerena Rietbergen.
FOLLOW LAKESIDE IN FACTS AND FIGURES: Check out the WDF World Championship on dartsdatabase.co.uk
Earlier on Sunday afternoon Lakeside delivered a gloriously global cavalcade of tungsten mayhem, a riot of flags, accents and ambitions colliding beneath the ancient rafters of Frimley Green. If ever you needed proof that the WDF World Championship has exploded far beyond its quaint Anglo-Dutch base, behold this session: five matches, ten nations, three continents, and enough darting drama to power a small city.
We opened with an all-European tumult — the sole contest of the afternoon that dared to resist the whitewash parade. But Finnish veteran Marko Kantele will take no comfort from that statistical quirk. The bookmakers had him pinned as the man to march serenely through, yet the Czech disruptor Dalibor Smolík arrived armed with belligerence and brilliance in equal measure. At one point he even nipped off stage mid-leg — presumably answering nature’s most urgent summons — only to return and continue flinging with icy composure. His reward? A date with Germany’s Paul Krohne.
Then the Women’s Championship roared back into life, the velvet curtain parting for the formidable Priscilla Steenbergen. The Dutch star, a former Lakeside quarter-finalist with ice in her veins and steel in her wrist, swept aside Poland’s brave challenger in straight sets. A clinical, unwavering dismantling. Up next: a blockbuster with America’s own Tracy Feiertag.
But thunder soon struck the men’s field as Scotland’s seasoned warrior Jim McEwan fell upon his own sword at the first hurdle. Irish qualifier Stephen Rosney — cool, calm, unblinking — snatched the decisive legs in the first two sets with the precision of a jewel thief, then sauntered through the third to finish the job. Chucky’s race for this year is run. For Rosney, his pilgrimage now leads him toward Switzerland’s Thomas Junghans.
History then flexed its muscles. A Turkish triumph on a World Championship darting stage is rarer than a solar eclipse — yet Emine Dursun delivered exactly that with a performance dripping in poise and power. After sealing the opening set, she stared down Paula Murphy, survived the American’s 2–0 lead in set two, then unleashed a storm of steady scoring and clutch finishing to turn the match on its head. With a tidy 73 average in her pocket, she marches on to face second seed Lorraine Hyde, a formidable Scot most people believe could lift the trophy next weekend.
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And finally… the shockwaves. The upset that rattled the walls. German talent Liam Maendl-Lawrence — heavily fancied, richly gifted — was summarily torn apart by the revelation of the week: New Zealand’s own Caleb Hope. The Kiwi played with the icy fearlessness of a man unaware he is supposed to feel pressure. His composure in every crucial moment made the scoreline look kinder than reality — but there was no doubt, none at all, that he fully earned the right to stride into the last 16. Awaiting him: the merciless, and one of the highly fancied to challenge for the title, James Beeton.
And with that, the curtain falls on a roaring, breathless opening weekend in Surrey. The players rest. The stage sleeps. But on Monday at 6pm, Lakeside awakens again.
Sunday 30th November - AFTERNOON SESSION
Open Round 1: Marko Kantele 1-3 Dalibor Smolik
Women's Round 1: Priscilla Steenbergen 2-0 Nina Lech-Musialska
Open Round 1: Jim McEwan 0-3 Stephen Rosney
Women's Round 1: Paula Murphy 0-2 Emine Dursun
Open Round 2: Liam Maendl-Lawrance (13) 0-3 Caleb Hope
Sunday 30th November - EVENING SESSION
Open Round 1: Jenson Walker 3-0 Jiri Brejcha
Women's Round 1: Aletta Wajer 2-0 Aaja Jalbert
Open Round 1: Bradley Kirk 1-3 Jeff Springer Jr
Women's Round 1: Paige Pauling 2-0 Lisa Zollikofer
Open Round 1: Mitchell Lawrie 3-0 Tomoya Maruyama
Open Round 2: Stefan Schroder 1 v 3 Shane McGuirk
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