Welcome to the closing day of the 2023 WDF Lakeside World Championship.

The evening kicked off with the Girls’ World Championship Final. With the two finalists coming from Italy and Hungary, we knew that history would be made, as neither had ever provided any darts World Champion! So, it was Aurora Fochesato against Krisztina Turai…

The first leg was a scrappy affair. Not scoring-wise from Fochesato, but the Italian took fourteen darts to finish 35! She had time though, as when she finally hit it, Turai had not even had a shot at a double. The Hungarian did better next leg, but it wasn’t enough to prevent her opponent going 2-0 up. A 2-dart check from 60 made it 3-0.

Krisztina got one on the board next time out, but a nice 15-darter – with back-to-back 140’s gave Aurora the second. Turai regained the set lead with a check from 82, but nine darts from 71 let Fochesato take the set to a decider. One leg from a World title, Fochesato opened with three tons, and finished D10 for a historic victory.

On to the boys. The Dutch and the Irish both have a good history in youth darts, so this promised to be a good’un. The first set could have been better – certainly from Adam Dee’s position – and Bradley van der Velden took it in straight legs. The young Irishman started the second well, and won the first two legs. Sadly for him, he then started missing doubles, and lost the last three legs – and was two sets down. Dee played better in the last set, but so did van der Velden, and we had yet another Dutch World Youth Champion.

The Women’s final saw Aileen de Graaf trying to overturn the overwhelming favorite, Beau Greaves. The 19-year had yet to drop a set this week, and in every match, her average had been at least ten points more than that of her “victim”.

In a World Final, that shouldn’t happen – and it didn’t. Yes, Beau won, and won comfortably, but there was only seven points difference in the averages, and that was largely due to the fact that she posted her lowest average of the week. It’s nothing really to get excited about, other than Greaves’ previous averages, only Rhian O’Sullivan’s 85.08 exceeded her 84.64 today.

The World # 1 wasn’t at her best in Set One, but still won it 3-1. Legs of 13 and 15 helped her take the Second without reply. De Graaf posted legs of 17 and 18 in the next, but it didn’t prevent her slipping three sets down. Legs of 18, 19, and then a swift 15 meant that the World Champ actually dropped a set this week. However, it just seemed to rile her, and three legs, nine tons, and a final set average of 93.94 later, the English girl had captured her second World Championship.

From one red-hot favorite to another… Andy Baetens has dominated the WDF Men’s Rankings this year, and is nearly 300 ahead of second-place Neil Duff. Baetens was strongly fancied to beat Chris Landman, and his performances this week certainly justified that feeling.

Just one set into the match, it was hard to disagree. Opening with a 13-darter, following with a 16 (and a 180), and finishing with a 15 (and another 180), the Belgian clearly meant business. A brace of 17’s and a 12 (180, 96, 105, 120) made it 2-0.

Landman recorded legs of 17 and 12 (3 x 140, 81) in the third, but the World # 1 still took the set, thanks in no small part to a 15, and a 12 of is own (59, 174, 98, 170). The fourth was a set that the Dutchman HAD to win, and counts of 14 and 15 helped him do that. He also took the first leg of the fifth, but this was conuntered by an 11-darter (3 x 140, 81) and Andy built on that to move three sets ahead.

Landman won the first leg of the sixth too, but missed doubles saw Baetens increase his lead further. The Danish Open and Czech Open Champion needed one more for the title, and soon, he was just one leg away. Landman had a shot at 80 to prolong things, but another miss allowed the 34-year-old in to clean up in 13. And his final average of 93.69 was absolutely in line with the other figures he posted this week. They were: 94.82, 94.20, 93.27, 94.13, and 93.69. Remarkable consistency, eh?

A great week of darts, and some richly-deserved champions…

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