2025 WDF Lakeside World Championship – Day 3

Sunday promised great things, with three Americans in action. First up was the evergreen Paula Murphy, who was up against the promising Turk, Emine Dursun.

Dursun it was who was quicker out of the traps, with the Florida native struggling to get into the game. The first set came and went without the World Cup Singles runner-up even having a shot at an out.

The second set was better, with Paula showing much improved form, and racing into a two-leg. Unfortunately, Dursun was also upping her game, and proceeded to take the next three legs, and the match. Murphy’s stats certainly weren’t poor, but the superior scoring of her opponent proved vital.

Next up was Aaja Jalbert, making her debut at Lakeside. Her opponent was Aletta Wajer, ironically making her final appearance here, before retiring from darts to concentrate on family matters.

Wajer strolled the opening leg, posting scores of 140, 134, 100, and 87, to set up tops after 12 darts. She missed the first three at it, but succeeded in closing out next turn. Jalbert posted the first 180 of the match in the second, but the winning double wouldn’t come, and it was 2-0. Three tons in Leg 3 gave the advantage to the girl from Maine, and this time, she was able to get on the scoreboard. Aaja kicked off the fourth leg with 121, 81, but it was to no avail as her Dutch opponent sealed the set.

Steady scoring, rather than spectacular, was never going to be enough against Aletta, and three legs later, it was “Game Over”. Disappointing, but a 69.37 average augurs well for the future.

The last of today’s trio was Jeff Springer Jr, returning to Surrey after making his World Championship bow in 2024. “The Stinger” was taking on Bradley Kirk.

Springer took the first leg, only for the Englishman to bounce back and win the next two. A nice check from 91 to clinch a 15-darter leveled the score, with a 16-darter giving the man from Washington State the set. After losing the first two legs in Set 2, Kirk clicked into gear, clinching the set with a nice 15.

The next set was a clean sweep for Springer, the highlight being a sweet 148 out to break Kirk as he gazed longingly at 24. The Las Vegas Open runner-up then made it four legs on the spin with a fantastic check from 160. Four on the spin turned into five on the spin with a not-quite-as-good (but equally effective) 94 checkout in two. The World #63 looked like pulling one back, as he left 52 after just twelve darts. Springer was back on 219. A timely 180 to leave 39 suddenly transferred all the pressure, Kirk failed to convert the required 52, and “The Stinger” pounced to secure his spot in the second round! He now faces Scot Andy Davidson on Wednesday.

The tournament is being streamed live on the WDF’s YouTube Channel, and live scoring is available at DartConnect

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