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WDF World Championship 2024 | Day Seven Preview and Order of Play

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WDF World Championship 2024 | Semi-Finals Preview and Order of Play

WDF World Championship 2024 | Day Eight Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in WDF Darts 06 Dec 2024
Paul Lim in action (Photo by Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics)

The quarter-finals take centre stage at the WDF World Championship on Friday as a host of star names aim to keep their Lakeside dream alive.

Only four seeds are left standing in the men’s competition, while five of the eight seeds have safely navigated their way through the women’s draw.

The early departure of tournament favourite Jimmy van Schie has blown the men’s draw wide open, with eight different nationalities represented in the quarter-finals of a World Championship for the first time in the history of the BDO/PDC/WDF.

Shane McGuirk has now been installed as the new favourite for the crown this weekend, and the Irishman looks to continue his dream debut when he meets Australian ace Peter Machin.

McGuirk has taken the Lakeside stage by storm this week and is yet to drop a set en route to the quarter-finals, having averaged 92.8, 96.2 and 93.6 in commanding wins over Mark Barilli, Edwin Torbjörnsson and Brandon Weening.

Former BDO World Trophy winner Machin opened up with a clinical straight sets win over Mike Gillet, before overcoming 12th seed Cliff Prior 3-1 in Thursday’s Last 16.

The opening men’s quarter-final sees Belgium’s Francois Schweyen up against Switzerland’s Thomas Junghans.

Schweyen followed up his straight sets wins over Michael Cassar and top seed Danny Porter with a battling 3-2 in over Brian Raman in their all-Belgian showdown.

Ninth seed Junghans has underlined his resolve by prevailing in back-to-back last-set deciders against James Beeton and Carl Wilkinson.

The afternoon’s opening women’s quarter-final sees Dutch duo Lerena Rietbergen and Aletta Wajer go head-to-head.

Rietbergen has recorded back-to-back straight sets wins over Maud Jansson and third seed Rhian O’Sullivan, while Wajer edged out America’s Paula Murphy 2-1 in her opener.

Last year’s runner-up Aileen de Graaf then takes on 18-year-old debutant Sophie McKinlay.

Second seed De Graaf, a four-time Dutch Open champion, was impressive in dispatching Japan’s Mayumi Ouchi 2-0 on Thursday, while McKinlay has enjoyed a dream debut by knocking out four-time champion Lisa Ashton and seventh seed Irina Armstrong in last-set deciders.

The evening session includes a stand-out tie between Dutch Open winner Jarno Bottenberg and Singapore legend Paul Lim.

Bottenberg has broken new ground at Lakeside with wins over Matthew Edgar, Ryan Hogarth and WDF number one Van Schie, averaging 88, 89 and 92 in the process.

Lim, meanwhile, has rolled back the years to reach the quarter-finals at Lakeside for the first time since 1990 – the year he landed his historic nine-darter.

The 70-year-old has produced a trio of vintage displays to defeat Moreno Blom, Kai Fan Leung and Gary Stone – the latter two in fifth set deciders.

Neil Duff, the 2022 champion, looks to continue his love affair with the Lakeside stage when he takes on 11th seed Jason Brandon of the USA.

Duff has done things the hard way once again, edging out Reece Colley and Barry Copeland 3-2, meaning five of his last six matches at Lakeside have now gone to deciding sets.

Brandon, on the other hand, is yet to drop a set this week, brushing aside Austria’s Hannes Schnier and Belgium’s Sybren Gijbels with successive 88 averages.

Defending champion Beau Greaves bids to maintain her ruthless unbeaten record on the Lakeside stage when she meets Czech challenger Jitka Cisarova.

Greaves got her quest for a hat-trick of world titles under way with a straight sets win over Finland’s Kirsi Viinikainen, while Císařová has enjoyed back-to-back 2-0 wins over Anca Zijlstra and Desi Mercer.

Three-time runner-up Deta Hedman looks to reach her first Lakeside semi-final since 2018 when she faces New Zealand’s Nicole Regnaud.

Hedman remains a formidable competition at the age of 65 and began by defeating 2022 finalist Kirsty Hutchinson 2-1, while 25-year-old Regnaud was a comfortable 2-0 winner over her compatriot Wendy Harper.

The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with men’s quarter-finals to be contested over the best of seven sets and women’s and boys’ quarter-finals best of three sets.

WDF World Championship 2024 Day Eight Schedule

Friday December 6

Quarter-Finals

Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Boys’ – Balazs Szotak v Florian Preis
Women’s – Lerena Rietbergen v Aletta Wajer
Men’s – Francois Schweyen v Thomas Junghans
Women’s – Aileen de Graaf v Sophie McKinlay
Men’s – Shane McGuirk v Peter Machin

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Boys’ – Jenson Walker v Mason Teese
Women’s – Deta Hedman v Nicole Regnaud
Men’s – Neil Duff v Jason Brandon
Women’s – Beau Greaves v Jitka Cisarova
Men’s – Jarno Bottenberg v Paul Lim

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