Duff and Tricole Come Through Lakeside Classic Quarter Finals
It was Quarter Finals Day of the WDF World Darts Championship for both the men and lady’s competition on Day 7, and the darting entertainment did not fail to disappoint.
5th seed Neil Duff came from 3-0 down to beat Jim McEwan 4-3 to reach his first Semi Final on his Lakeside debut, whilst Thibaut Tricole survived match darts before beating Belgian Andy Baetens 4-3 in the final match of the afternoon.
Richard Veenstra beat tournament number 1 Brian Raman 4-2 to go through and face Duff in the Semi Finals, with the Dutchman coming so close to hitting the first 9 darter on the Lakeside stage in 32 years after missing double twelve to finish 144.
18-year-old darting sensation Beau Greaves dropped just one leg on her way to the semi finals beating 4th Seed Aileen de Graaf 2-0, whilst Rhian O’Sullivan averaged just under 90 in beating Maria O’Brien 2-0 in the second lady’s quarter final in Surrey.
Kirsty Hutchinson and Lorraine Winstanley make up the final four in the lady’s competition after Hutchinson beat Priscilla Steenbergen 2-1 in the afternoon session, coming from 1-0 down in the match. Whilst Winstanley came through a final set decider to beat Tori Kewish 2-1, with the 8th seed including a 120 out in the match to delight the Lakeside crowd and husband Dean.
Cameron Menzies defeated WDF world number 1 James Hurrell 4-0 after beating defending champion Wayne Warren 3-0 last night to reach his first Lakeside semi final and will face Tricole in the semi finals on Saturday.
Neil Duff made a very slow start in his Quarter Final with Jim McEwan, with Chucky coming from 2-1 down to take the first set hitting checkouts of 71 in the fourth leg in just two darts on double sixteen, before finishing a ton plus out hitting 112 on double tops to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Scotsman continued from where he left off in the second set, taking out 140 on double 10 to take a 1-0 lead. Duff responded in the third leg after McEwan led 2-0, by taking out a 12 darter on double ten in which both hit 180s straight after each other.
The second set went to a decider where McEwan showed his ability on double tops, taking out 96 hitting double 18 then tops to take a 2-0 lead in sets. Chucky hit the same segment to clinch the third set with all three legs won on tops with a 114 out in the second leg, and a 177-score followed by tops to take the first.
The Duff Man then began to make his surge back into the match, after McEwan missed a match dart at his beloved tops to win the match 4-0. A score of 137 followed by double twelve was enough to see the Northern Irishman get his first set on the board to make the score 3-1.
The 5th seed began to give the Lakeside crowd their money’s worth on the oche, hitting back-to-back maximums followed by 41 out in two darts on tops to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth set.
Duff levelled at 3-3, and the Northern Irishman wasted no time on doubles in winning his last legs of the match. Firstly, hitting a maximum and then taking out 81 on tops in three darts to take his second leg followed by a 60 out in two hitting McEwan’s beloved tops to send the Scotsman home and reach the Semi Finals for the first time in his career.
2nd Seed Thibaut Tricole didn’t even win a leg in the first set of his Quarter Final with Andy Baetens, as the Beast from the East closed out the first set with a score of 171 from three treble nineteens followed by double 16 on his first dart.
The Frenchman showed the 7th seed his finishing ability in the second leg of the second set, finishing 118 on the bullseye to take a 2-0 lead after breaking the throw on double five in the opening leg.
Tricole won the second set to level at 1-1 and went on in finishing 96 in just two darts as he finished on double 18 to win the first leg of the third set against the darts.
Baetens restored his lead in the match in the third set, hitting 82 on double sixteen in just two darts to take his second leg before finishing on the same segment on his second dart to win his third and final leg against Tricole and take a 2-1 lead.
The French Touch took yet another ton plus checkout on the oche, finishing 120 on double tops to punish the Belgian after he missed three darts to go 2-0 up in the fourth set.
Tricole took the lead for the first time in the match after winning the fifth set, coming from 2-1 down to win hitting double 20 to lead in the Quarter Final.
The 7th seed however did not throw in the white towel after going behind, finding his ability on the doubles once more by hitting double eighteen with his first dart to take the first leg before hitting double tops with his first dart to take a 2-1 lead in set six.
The last set went all the way to a final leg shootout and both players had darts to win it, Baetens missed tops with his one and only match dart before Tricole stepped to the oche and finished double ten to book his place in the Semi Finals against Cameron Menzies.
Richard Veenstra was so close to hitting the first nine darter at Lakeside for 32 years but showed the form he had in his last game with Luke Littler once more in Surrey which saw the Dutchman break the highest average record on the Lakeside stage hitting 104.91.
The Number 1 seed hit six perfect darts of his own in the first leg of the second set, before finishing on double eight to take a 1-0 lead. Flyers included many maximums and used one to win the fifth set leaving tops from a score of 220 which he finished with his first dart when he returned to the oche.
He did the same in the last leg of the match, hitting six perfect darts before missing double twelve to close out the match on a nine darter. The excitement of the situation didn’t fluster Veenstra though as he returned to the oche to hit the double with his first dart in hand and won 4-2 in the second match of the evening session.
Rhian O’Sullivan was very impressive in beating Maria O’Brien in the afternoon, with 7th seed O’Brien falling into the Lakeside crowd in a nail-biting moment after seeing limping as she approached the oche. All signs of pain were blown out the window in the first leg though, after O’Brien hit bull, treble 15 then double 20 to take out 135.
O’Sullivan though was too strong for her opponent closing out the match with an average just shy of 90, in which she included four 180s, as well as hitting a 17-dart leg to lead 2-0 in the second set, just after taking out 92 on double eighteen to break the O’Brien throw in the first.
Beau Greaves suffered a late health scare before her match with Aileen de Graaf but shrugged off any problems on the oche including a maximum followed by a checkout of 89 on double nine to take a 2-0 lead in the second set.
Beau and Arrow also threw a 16-dart leg to take the first leg of the second set and goes through to her second Semi Final where it will be an all-English affair with 8th Seed Lorraine Winstanley.
Its Semi Finals Day on day 8 of the WDF World Championships with action from the men’s and lady’s competitions continuing at the home of world darts.
WDF World Championship: Quarter Final Results
Neil Duff (5) 4-3 Jim McEwan
Thibault Tricole (2) 4-3 Andy Baetens (7)
Richard Veenstra (9) 4-2 Brian Raman (1)
Cameron Menzies (14) 4-0 James Hurrell (6)
WDF World Championship Women: Quarter Final Results
Kirsty Hutchinson (6) 2-1 Priscilla Steenbergen
Rhian O’Sullivan 2-0 Maria O’Brien (7)
Lorraine Winstanley (8) 2-1 Tori Kewish
Beau Greaves (5) 2-0 Aileen de Graaf (4)
WDF World Championship Semi Finals:
Richard Veenstra (9) v Neil Duff (5)
Thibault Tricole (2) v Cameron Menzies (14)
WDF World Championship Women Semi Finals:
Lorraine Winstanley (8) v Beau Greaves (5)
Rhian O’Sullivan v Kirsty Hutchinson (6)
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Words: Harry Masterson
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