Lorraine Winstanley kicked off her bid for a maiden Lakeside title as two more men’s seeds fell on Wednesday afternoon at the 2023 CT1 WDF Lakeside World Championships.
Whitewash win for Lorraine Winstanley
Lorraine Winstanley made light work of her opening game in this year’s World Championship, defeating Veronika Ihasz 2-0 without dropping a leg.
The England international threw a 180 in the opening leg and that was an indication of a generally strong scoring performance throughout. Her best leg was a 19-darter which came in the first set, while she eventually sealed victory with a two-dart 79 finish.
She will now wait for this evening’s clash between Aileen de Graaf and Nicole Regnaud to see who she’ll meet in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Junghans comes from behind to dump out tenth seed Leung
Thomas Junghans is continuing to make history for Switzerland at this year’s WDF World Championships and he’s now through to the Last 16 after a come-from-behind win over Kai-Fan Leung.
The first set saw both players fire in two maximums each but it was Leung that came out on top, capitalising on a slew of missed doubles from his Swiss opponent to nick it 3-2.
Junghans’ finishing picked up in the second set and he took that one 3-1, kicking it off with a 108 out and then pinning a 17-darter to level the match going into the break.
Set three went all the way, with Junghans kicking off with 87 and 64 outs before Leung responded with 115 and 68 finishes of his own. In the decider, Junghans’ power scoring proved the difference as he went out in 14 darts.
Leung took the opening leg in the fourth but his scoring power dropped off as the set went on, Junghans winning legs in 17, 13 and 17 darts to seal progress with an 87.83 average and four more maximums to his credit.
Landman dispatches Kirwan in straight sets
Facing Junghans in the Last 16 will be Chris Landman after the Dutchman defied a few big finishes from Davie Kirwan to complete a fairly routine 3-0 victory.
‘The Countryman’ took the first set in double-quick time, producing two 18-darters and a 53 finish to take the opener 3-0.
He also won the opening leg of the second set, only for Kirwan to find his mojo with finishes of 64 and 116. The Scotland international’s scoring power then dried up, allowing Landman to level it up with a 17-darter and then seal the set with a 102 out shot.
It was a similar story in the third set, with Landman taking the opener before Kirwan won the next two legs, the latter with a brilliant 141 out. Again though, his scoring dipped and Landman sealed progress with successive finishes of 100 and 101.
Olde Kalter sets up Dutch derby with Klaasen
Kai-Fan Leung wasn’t the only debuting seed to exit the tournament on Wednesday afternoon, with Darren Johnson dispatched fairly easily by the Dutchman Dennie Olde Kalter.
Olde Kalter, who beat Antony Allen in the first round, raced out of the blocks and won the first set 3-0 with legs in 15, 17 and 18 darts.
Johnson got on the board in the second set but he’d only won one leg going into the break, Olde Kalter doubling his lead with a match-best checkout of 110.
‘DJ’, a WDF event winner in 2022, did pick up after the break and took the third set 3-0 to halve the deficit. He was powerless to stop Olde Kalter in the fourth set though, with the Dutchman averaging more than 100 as he won it 3-0 and upped his 180 count for the match to four.
Next up for Olde Kalter will be a tantalising tussle in the Last 16 with the 2006 World Champion and fellow Dutchman Jelle Klaasen.
6th December Afternoon Session Results
Chris Landman 3-0 Davie Kirwan
Lorraine Winstanley 2-0 Veronika Ihasz
Thomas Junghans 3-1 Kai-Fan Leung
Dennie Olde Kalter 3-1 Darren Johnson
All photo credits go to Chris Sargeant / Tip Top Pics
