Mikuru Suzuki secures second successive Women’s World Championship title

Mikuru Suzuki made it back-to-back Women’s World Championship titles after a crushing 3-0 victory over Lisa Ashton in the final at London’s O2 Indigo on Saturday.

The Japanese sensation, who enjoyed a dream debut triumph at Lakeside 12 months ago, extended her unbeaten record in the BDO’s show-piece to become only the fourth multiple Ladies World Champion.

Suzuki had dropped just two set en route to the final but asserted her authority in a one-sided contest to deny Ashton a fifth world title.

“I’m just super happy,” Suzuki told Live Darts.

“When I lost the second set against Beau [Greaves] it just fired me up and I knew I had to start well from the beginning.

“I always try my best every game, this time every game was tough and put me under a lot of pressure.

“I believe I’ve made some improvement, especially from last year, and I still think I can improve much more.”

Suzuki settled quickly to clinch the first set 3-1 before edging a crucial second set in a deciding leg to double her advantage.

The 37-year-old took the first leg of the third set before Ashton rallied with a 118 checkout to level, and though ‘The Lancashire Rose’ forced another decider, it was Suzuki who sealed the deal with a 71 finish on tops to claim glory.

Suzuki is now unbeaten in eight matches at the Women’s World Championship and joins Ashton, Trina Gulliver and Anastasia Dobromyslova as a multiple World Champion.

Despite her success, Suzuki is set to pocket just £8,000 – the lowest top prize in a Women’s World Championship for a decade.

BDO Chairman Des Jacklin penned a letter to all competitors prior to the tournament outlining that the prize fund would be reduced by more than half, which he attributed to ‘toxicity’ on social media causing the promoters to be unable to attract a title sponsor.

Jacklin had promised earlier in the year that Women’s World Champion would pocket a record £20,000 top prize, an increase of £7,500 from 2019.

In response to the announcement, BDO professional Tony Martin set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to add to the prize fund, with £2,160 having been raised so far.