Remarkably, at the sprightly age of 71, Paul Lim has qualified for the PDC World Championship. Again. He is, in fact, the oldest qualifier since… himself, three years ago. Talk about breaking your own records.
It’s another chapter in the Cinderella story of the Singapore Slinger, who somehow manages to keep his tungsten standard at a high level. Whatever Luke Littler is achieving at the youthful end of the scale, Lim is doing at the pensioner’s end.
Qualification was sealed the hard way: clinging to the last available spot on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit after 28 events across the continent. The final quartet of tournaments in Qingdao, China, was less a relaxing weekend away and more a sweat-fest of nerves, heat, and last-leg shootouts.
Hong Kong’s Lok Yin Lee finally grabbed a title, beating Motomu Sakai in a decider. Too late to book a ticket to Ally Pally, but a cool $10k will soften the blow. Filipino Alexis Toylo joined the London-bound party with a 5-0 demolition of compatriot Lourence Ilagan, averaging just shy of the ton. Was Ilagan particularly fussed? Probably not – he’s heading to Ally Pally anyway, and likely sharing the Heathrow Airport Uber with Toylo.
Filipino stalwart, Paolo Nebrida chipped in with a win too, edging Tomoya Goto in yet another last-leg shootout that Japanese players seemed contractually obliged to lose that weekend. Then Ryusei Azemoto saved Japan’s blushes by claiming his third title of the year, ensuring he’ll be boarding the same December flight as Sakai.
As for Lim? No title this time, but he didn’t need one. A modest last-16 run, plus a polite trio of round-of-32 exit, was enough to keep him in the frame and book yet another historic Ally Pally appearance. Last year, he went to Lakeside instead and very nearly walked away as WDF World Champion. Imagine that – the difference in age between two particular reigning world champions would have been more than half a century. Darts historians would have fainted on the spot.
There’s still the Asian Championship to come, with two more golden tickets to London up for grabs – plus a Grand Slam spot for the winner. But no matter what happens, Paul Lim remains the man making darts writers pull out their thesaurus in search of fresh superlatives. I’ll keep it simple: legend. Short, accurate, and utterly deserved.
2025 Asian Tour Order Of Merit (Final Standings)
1. Alexis Toylo (Philippines)
2. Motomu Sakai (Japan)
3. Lourence Ilagan (Philippines)
4. Ryusei Azemoto (Japan)
5. Paul Lim (Singapore)
——ENDS—–
Images: PDC
