Sunday afternoon and Lakeside delivered a gloriously global cavalcade of tungsten mayhem, a riot of flags, accents and ambitions colliding beneath the ancient rafters of Frimley Green. If ever you needed proof that the WDF World Championship has exploded far beyond its quaint Anglo-Dutch origins, behold this session: five matches, ten nations, three continents, and enough darting drama to power a small city.
We opened with an all-European tumult — the sole contest of the afternoon that dared to resist the whitewash parade. But Finnish veteran Marko Kantele will take no comfort from that statistical quirk. The bookmakers had him pinned as the man to march serenely through, yet the Czech disruptor arrived armed with belligerence and brilliance in equal measure. At one point he even nipped off stage mid-leg — presumably answering nature’s most urgent summons — only to return and continue flinging with icy composure. His reward? A date with Germany’s Paul Krohne.
Then the Women’s Championship roared back into life, the velvet curtain parting for the formidable Priscilla Steenbergen. The Dutch star, a former Lakeside quarter-finalist with ice in her veins and steel in her wrist, swept aside Poland’s brave challenger in straight sets. A clinical, unwavering dismantling by the only triumphant favourite of the afternoon. Up next: a blockbuster with America’s own Tracy Feiertag.
But thunder soon struck the men’s field as Scotland’s seasoned warrior Jim McEwan fell upon his own sword at the first hurdle. Irish qualifier Stephen Rosney — cool, calm, unblinking — snatched the decisive legs in the first two sets with the precision of a jewel thief, then sauntered through the third to finish the job. Chucky’s race for this year is run. For Rosney, his pilgrimage now leads him toward Switzerland’s Thomas Junghans.
History then flexed its muscles. A Turkish triumph on a World Championship darting stage is rarer than a solar eclipse — yet Emine Dursun delivered exactly that with a performance dripping in poise and power.
After sealing the opening set, she stared down Paula Murphy, survived the American’s 2–0 lead in set two, then unleashed a storm of steady scoring and clutch finishing to turn the match on its head. With a tidy 73 average in her pocket, she marches on to face second seed Lorraine Hyde, a formidable Scot most people believe could lift the trophy next weekend.
And finally… the shockwaves. The upset that rattled the walls. German talent Liam Maendl-Lawrence — heavily fancied, richly gifted — was summarily torn apart by the revelation of the week: New Zealand’s own Caleb Hope (main picture). The Kiwi played with the icy fearlessness of a man unaware he is supposed to feel pressure. His composure in every crucial moment made the scoreline look kinder than reality — but there was no doubt, none at all, that he fully earned the right to stride into the last 16. Awaiting him: the merciless, and one of the highly fancied to challenge for the title, James Beeton.
Another session, another spectacle. Lakeside 2025 refuses to whisper. It ROARS.
Sunday 30th November – AFTERNOON SESSION RESULTS
Open Round 1: Marko Kantele 1-3 Dalibor Smolik
Women’s Round 1: Priscilla Steenbergen 2-0 Nina Lech-Musialska
Open Round 1: Jim McEwan 0-3 Stephen Rosney
Women’s Round 1: Paula Murphy 0-2 Emine Dursun
Open Round 2: Liam Maendl-Lawrance (13) 0-3 Caleb Hope
—–ENDS—–
Images: WDF / Chris Sargeant
