The World Darts Federation will present their first ‘self hosted’ World Championships after a three month delay to the original schedule. Players will once more battle to become WDF cChampion of the World and take home the £50,000 grand prize.
The 2021 event will be a permanent gap in the history books and will serve as a reminder of Covid and the BDO collapse.
Lakeside will play host to its 35th World Championship after last hosting the BDO worlds back in 2019.
Englishman and PDC tour card holder Connor Scutt is the joint favourite to win the competition with James Richardson and Cameron Menzies also favoured to win in Frimley at 8/1.
Scutt faces Shaun Burt of Canada in the first round where WDF world number two Thibault Tricole awaits in the second round.
Connor reached the semi-finals in the Pro Tour on the PDC circuit in event three with “The Sniper” beating the likes of Martin Schindler and Keane Barry in a strong run for the Surrey born star with Scutt looking to become world champion on home soil for the first time in his career.
James Richardson has played on the Ally Pally stage a few times in his career including a Last 16 appearance in 2018 beating the likes of Kim Huybrechts on his way. “Ruthless” faces Sebastian Steyer of Poland for the chance to play tenth seed Scott Marsh in the second round.
The last competition of the BDO saw Wayne Warren become world champion for the first-time beating Jim Williams in the final at the O2 Arena in London and comes into Lakeside as the third highest ranked player in the competition. He will hope or similar look when he returns to Lakeside for the WDF World Championship.
Warren will meet the winner of Lee Shewan and Jordan Brooks in an all English first round clash in the last game on Sunday afternoon. A match against Jordan Brooks could be a little difficult for the 59-year-old with “Sheriff” reaching the Semi-Finals in the Isle of Man Classic back in March.
Cameron Menzies is also a regular on the PDC circuit, also having a tour card ahead of taking part in the WDF World Championship. The Scotsman will face either Canadian David Cameron or Englishman Ian Jones as the two set to face off in the first match on Sunday.
The lady’s tournament will also begin with Mikuru Suzuki being the favourite to win the competition having won back-to-back BDO world titles in 2019 and 2020, as well as losing in a narrow 3-2 defeat to James Richardson in the opening round of the PDC World Championships in 2020.
She faces Laura Turner in the first round on Sunday as the winner faces number four seed Aileen de Graaf in the second round. So far in her darting career, de Graaf has never won the worlds with her best performances being appearances in the semi-finals back in 2016 and 2017.
Beau Greaves is also a strong contender for the title at Lakeside with the 18-year-old well in form coming into the World Championship. She dismantled Deta Hedman 5-0 in the final of the Isle of Man Classic Women competition, as Greaves earns the number fifth seed ahead of the tournament.
She faces either Paula Murphy of the USA or Veronika Ihasz of Hungary in the second round and will find out the winner of the match when the two face off on Sunday night.
The opening match of the day sees darting legend and three-time BDO world champion Martin Adams take on Jarred Cole with the winner going through to face Antony Allen in the second round. A third-round tie against WDF world number one Brian Raman from Belgium will happen should he get past his second-round tie against either Leonard Gates or Johnny Haines.
Action gets underway at one o’clock at Lakeside on Saturday with coverage commencing on Quest and Eurosport throughout the tournament.
WDF Men’s World Championship Fixtures:
Brian Raman (1) v John Scott/ Johnny Haines
Antony Allen (16) v Martin Adams/ Jarred Cole
Luke Littler (8) v Ben Hazel/ Haupai Puha
Richard Veenstra (9) v Andreas Harrysson/ Laszlo Kadar
Aaron Turner v Landon Gardiner/ Jim McEwan
Michael Warburton (13) v Mark Graham/ Dave Prins
Neil Duff (5) v Paul Hogan/ Justin Thompson
Nick Fullwell (12) v Mark Barilli/ Rory Hansen
Thibault Tricole (2) v Connor Scutt/ Shawn Burt
Leonard Gates (15) v Steve Hine/ Kevin Luke
Andy Baetens (7) v Dave Parletti/ Shaun McDonald
Scott Marsh (10) v James Richardson/ Sebastian Steyer
Wayne Warren (3) v Lee Shewan/ Jordan Brooks
Cameron Menzies (14) v Ian Jones/ David Cameron
James Hurrell (6) v John Desremaux/ Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jules van Dongen (11) v Francesco Raschini/ Ryan de Vreede
WDF Women’s World Championship Fixtures:
Deta Hedman (1) v Lorraine Hyde/ Tori Kewish
Lorraine Winstanley (8) v Vicky Pruim/ Desi Mercer
Aileen de Graaf (4) v Laura Turner/ Mikuru Suzuki
Beau Greaves (5) v Paula Murphy/ Veronika Ihasz
Corrine Hammond (2) v Paula Jacklin/ Rhian O’Sullivan
Maria O’Brien (7) v Amanda Harwood/ Marjolein Noijens
Anca Zijlstra (3) v Priscilla Steenbergen/ Darlene van Sleeuwen
Kirsty Hutchinson (6) v Suzanne Smith/ Jo Clements
—–Ends——
Words: Harry Masterson
In text Images: PDC/ L Lustig.
