Paul Lim in action (Photo by Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics)
The men’s third round and women’s second round action draws to a close at the WDF World Championship on Thursday with the remaining quarter-final places up for grabs.
Eight of the 16 seeds have crashed out of the men’s competition in their opening match, though a host of key title contenders remain in the running.
Another double-session awaits at Lakeside on Day Seven, kicking off with a clash between Yorkshire’s Carl Wilkinson and Switzerland’s Thomas Junghans.
Former PDC Tour Card holder Wilkinson has already put Canada’s Jacob Taylor and Slovenia’s Benjamin Pratnemer to the sword without dropping a set, while ninth seed Junghans began his campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over James Beeton.
Former BDO World Trophy winner Peter Machin looks to build on his impressive start when he takes on England’s Cliff Prior.
Machin averaged 88 in a straight sets rout of Mike Gillet, while Prior will be determined to improve on his average of 74 in a 3-1 win over Scott Walters.
Meanwhile, unseeded Sybren Gijbels of Belgium takes on 11th seed Jason Brandon of the USA.
Gijbels has battled past Kevin Luke and Liam Maendl-Lawrance in deciding sets with successive 80 averages, while Brandon enjoyed a commanding 3-0 win over Austria’s Hannes Schnier with an 88.8 average on Wednesday.
The penultimate women’s second round tie sees second seed Aileen de Graaf – last year’s runner-up – takes on Japan’s Mayumi Ouchi, World Masters semi-finalist in 2022.
Sophie McKinlay looks to follow up her sensational debut win over four-time champion Lisa Ashton when she takes on Germany’s seventh seed Irina Armstrong in the evening session.
The evening session also includes a stand-out tie between men’s title favourite Jimmy van Schie and Dutch Open champion Jarno Bottenberg.
Van Schie announced himself onto the Lakeside stage with a blistering display to defeat Björn Lejon 3-0 with a 99 average, underlining his position as strong pre-tournament favourite.
Bottenberg saw off former PDC star Matthew Edgar with an 88 average in Round One, before averaging 89 in a 3-1 win over 15th seed Ryan Hogarth in a heated contested on Tuesday.
Neil Duff, the 2022 champion, continues his campaign with a showdown against his Northern Irish compatriot Barry Copeland.
Duff dug deep to edge out Reece Colley in a deciding set in Round Two, while Copeland breezed through with a straight sets win over Aaron Turner.
The final match of the evening sees 70-year-old Paul Lim look to roll back the years once again when he comes up against tenth seed Gary Stone.
Making his first World Championship appearance at Lakeside for 30 years, nine-dart legend Lim has seen off Moreno Blom and Kai Fan Leung to reach the Last 16 with a tournament average of 87.
Stone, meanwhile, battled his way to a 3-2 victory over Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson on Wednesday and will be out to end Lim’s hopes of a fairy-tale farewell in what he revealed is set to be his last World Championship.
The action gets under way from 1pm GMT, with Men’s Third Round ties to be contested over the best of five sets and Women’s Second Round ties best of three sets.
WDF World Championship 2024 Day Seven Schedule
Thursday December 5
Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm)
Men’s R3 – Carl Wilkinson v Thomas Junghans
Boys QF – Ralfs Laumanis v Lex Paeshuyse
Men’s R3 – Peter Machin v Cliff Prior
Women’s R2 – Aileen de Graaf v Mayumi Ouchi
Men’s R3 – Sybren Gijbels v Jason Brandon
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Men’s R3 – Neil Duff v Barry Copeland
Boys QF – Kendji Steinbach v Archie Self
Men’s R3 – Jimmy van Schie v Jarno Bottenberg
Women’s R2 – Irina Armstrong v Sophie McKinlay
Men’s R3 – Paul Lim v Gary Stone
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