Fifteen and 66: Lawrie and Hedman Rule the Europe Cup

The WDF Europe Cup singles titles went to opposite ends of the darts age range in Torshavn, with Mitchell Lawrie and Deta Hedman both taking gold.

Open Singles

Mitchell Lawrie, the 15-year-old Scot, beat Croatia’s Zvonimir Lešić 7-4 in the final, averaging 101.26 with four 180s and five legs in 15 darts or fewer, to become the youngest winner of the Europe Cup Singles title in history.

He wasted no time. Lawrie took the opening leg with a 49 finish with a D17-S7-D4 route and hit three maximums in the first three legs to race into a 3-0 lead.

Lešić, who had already secured Croatia’s first Europe Cup medal, was never going to lie down. He hit back with 12-dart legs in both the fourth and eighth and averaged 96.52 himself, but Lawrie always had an answer, wrapping it up in 13 darts in the 11th leg.

This is just the sort of form that has seen Lawrie pick up WDF titles at men’s events in Denmark, Gibraltar, Ireland, Scotland and most notably, the British Open.

Women’s singles

Thirty-two years after her only previous Europe Cup Women’s Singles win, Deta Hedman is champion again, and she wins it as the reigning WDF World Champion. Gold number 17 is hers.

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In winning the title, Hedman confirmed the overall title for England, continuing her timeless legacy in the competition.

The Englishwoman beat Wales’ Eve Watson 7-4 in the final, averaging 80.81 to Watson;s 71.04 and hitting 5 180s and 10 140s along the way.

Hedman made a flying start, racing into a 5-1 lead with a 15-dart leg in the fourth, and Watson, on her 50th birthday, refused to go quietly. She won three of the next four legs to drag it back to 6-4, with Hedman left on 2 when the tenth leg went the Welshwoman’s way.

But the 66-year-old veteran closed it out in the 11th, finishing it in 16 darts.

Hedman will return to the stage this evening as she and her English teammates will look to make it a clean sweep across the Women’s events, as Laura Turner and Steph Clarke took the pairs event earlier in the day.