Jarno Bottenberg delivered an incredible showing to eliminate tournament favourite Jimmy van Schie on a night that also saw Paul Lim and Neil Duff advance to the Men’s quarter-finals.
Bottenberg stuns WDF No.1 van Schie to reach last eight
Jarno Bottenberg produced a career-best performance to beat fellow Dutchman Jimmy van Schie, who had recorded the tournament’s highest average in the Last 32.
Van Schie won the opener in 16 darts but the first set went the way of Bottie, who took out a 110 finish followed by a 12-darter to take the first set 3-1.
Set two went all the way to a deciding leg, with van Schie missing a set dart on a 108 finish and Bottenberg capitalising to double his lead with a successful shot on double 15.
Van Schie looked stronger after the break, opening up with a 13-darter and eventually taking the set 3-2 with a 17-darter.
Finishing continued to prove troublesome for van Schie though, with Bottenberg going through the gears to take the final set 3-0 with legs in 16, 14 and 13 darts.
Bottenberg finished with six 180s and a 92.31 average, announcing himself as a title contender in the process.
Lim rallies to defeat Stone and keep fairytale run going
Bottenberg’s opponent in tomorrow’s quarter-finals will be the Singaporean legend Paul Lim, who continued to roll back the years with a comeback victory over Gary Stone.
Stone started the better, producing an 11-dart break to go 2-0 up in the first set, only for Lim to win three on the bounce with finishes of 90 and 96 along the way to take it 3-2.
The Scot overcame that disappointment to level things up going into the break, taking the second set 3-2 with finishes of 100 and 70 in the process, before firing in front by winning the third set to nil in 49 darts.
Lim found a second wind though, taking the fourth set with three 180s, and he extended that run to six straight legs, dramatically taking the deciding set 3-0 to win 3-2 and advance to a first World Championship quarter-final in 34 years.
Duff downs The Daddy in all Northern Irish clash
Neil Duff continued his bid to win back the WDF Men’s World Championship with a hard-fought victory over friend and compatriot Barry Copeland.
Doubles were an issue early on for Duff, who was duly punished by Copeland after he missed six darts to win the opening set.
Roles were reversed in the second though, with Duff converting an early 2-0 lead in the set by taking out tops after Copeland had missed three darts at double seven for the set.
Duff moved in front for the first time by taking the third set 3-1, sealing it with a 90 out, but he wasn’t able to close it out in the fourth set. Duff took out the 121 finish that Copeland had left numerous times in the game, but he missed three match darts and Copeland punished him with successive legs in 16 and 13 to force a decider.
The final set went all the way, all five legs going with throw and Duff going through the gears in the last leg to win it in 13-darts.
Duff, who averaged 86.53, faces Jason Brandon in Friday’s quarter-finals.
McKinlay battles back to beat returning Armstrong
Irina Armstrong’s first appearance on the Lakeside stage in more than 9 years started strongly but ultimately ended in defeat against Scotland’s teenage star Sophie McKinlay.
German international Armstrong took a high-quality opening set, breaking McKinlay’s throw in the final leg of the set with an 88 out.
She had chances to wrap it up 2-0 but was unable to convert, missing multiple match darts and McKinlay punishing her with a two-dart 52 out.
The standard dipped in the fourth set as both women showed signs of fatigue but McKinlay had the edge, taking it 3-0 to wrap up a 2-1 victory.
McKinlay was the last player to book a spot in the quarters, and the 18-year-old standout will face off against second seed and 2023 finalist Aileen de Graaf.
Self downs Steinbach in fast-paced youth clash
Archie Self outlined his potential title credentials with victory in the WDF Boys’ World Championship quarter-finals.
‘The Archer’ registered an early break of throw to lead 2-0 in the first set, and although Steinbach came back at him, the young England player found a 14-darter in the deciding leg to go 1-0 up.
Second seed Steinbach got going in the second set, a 12-darter the highlight as he won it 3-0 to level the game at 1-1.
Steinbach extended his run of legs to four by taking the opener in the third against the darts, only for Self to then win three on the spin to win 2-1 with an 81.12 average.
Self, who finished with three maximums, will face Belgium’s brilliant Lex Paeshuyse in the semis.
Photos: Chris Sargeant/Tip Top Pics
