Chris Lim and Rhian O'Sullivan wrapped up the WDF tour's first stop of 2025 in the USA with victories in the Silver-ranked Las Vegas Classic.
Lim comes from behind to defeat Fatum in Classic final
Nevada had been a happy hunting ground for Chris Lim in previous years, with 'Lightning' claiming the Las Vegas Open title in both 2020 and 2023. That theme continued in 2025, with Lim defeating David Fatum 5-4 in the Men's Classic final.
Lim opened his tournament account with successive whitewash wins over John Galindo and John Gober, before beating Anthony Romero 4-1 to reach the Last 32.
There, he saw off Jeff Springer Jr 4-2 and he repeated the scoreline in the Last 16 to down top seed Jason Brandon.
Lim had averaged 96.28 against Brandon but he found another gear to average 99.09 in an excellent quarter-final win over Ram Guevara that saw all seven legs won in 15 darts of fewer. He then beat Sweden's Dennis Nilsson to set up the title decider with Fatum.
Fatum, nicknamed 'The Scorpion', struck first in the final with a sensational 157 out and got the best of an early exchange of breaks to establish a 4-2 lead in the race to five.
The former Arizona fireman never got match darts though, with Lim producing successive outs of 68, 80 and 90 to turn it around and win 5-4.
It was a good run nonetheless for Fatum, who has added 56 points to his bid to make a Lakeside debut later this year courtesy of quality victories over the likes of Alex Spellman, Bruce Robbins, James Beeton and then Ethan De Veyra.
2024 champion Jeff Smith was beaten in the Last 32 by Aaron Jalbert, with 2025 Las Vegas Open champion David Cameron falling at the same stage to Dustin Holt.
Las Vegas Classic | Men's Quarter-Finals
Chris Lim 4-3 Ram Guevara
Dennis Nilsson 4-2 Dave Prins
Ethan De Veyra 4-1 Garrett French
David Fatum 4-2 James Beeton
Semi-Finals
Lim 4-2 Nilsson
Fatum 4-2 De Veyra
Final
Lim 5-4 Fatum
O'Sullivan survives match darts to win Women's Classic
Rhian O'Sullivan recovered from the heartbreak of losing the Las Vegas Open final the day before, wherein she missed match darts, to win her first WDF title in 15 months at the Las Vegas Classic.
It was a role reversal for O'Sullivan, who came from behind and survived a hatful of match darts from final opponent Sayuri Nishiguchi before she got over the line 5-4 by taking out 56.
Prior to the final, O'Sullivan hadn't dropped a single leg. The Wales captain had recorded five whitewash victories to reach the title decider, a run that was capped off by victories over Leanne Topper in the last eight and Tracy Feiertag in the semis.
Nishiguchi, playing in her first WDF weekend, showed real quality in her run to the final. She beat a hat-trick of Brits, namely Paula Jacklin, Wendy Reinstadtler and Deta Hedman, before her meeting with O'Sullivan in which she had darts to win 5-3 and 5-4.
Las Vegas Classic | Women's Quarter-Finals
Rhian O'Sullivan 4-0 Leanne Topper
Tracy Feiertag 4-3 Tammy Dauber
Deta Hedman 4-1 Eve Watson
Sayuri Nishiguchi 4-2 Wendy Reinstadtler
Semi-Finals
O'Sullivan 4-0 Feiertag
Nishiguchi 4-3 Hedman
Final
O'Sullivan 5-4 Nishiguchi
Hammond shows class to win Boys' Classic
Impressive Canadian teenager Peyton Hammond showed some of what he's capable of to win the 2025 Boys' Las Vegas Classic.
Having beaten compatriot Jett Danis and Colton Dunn to reach the semis, Hammond saw off Dutch teen Milan Brinkman to setup a final with Robert Sutherland.
The 16-year-old Mission signee won that comfortably, taking it 4-1 to claim his third WDF Youth title.
Penney wins all-Canadian final to claims Girls' Classic
Calie Penney won her third WDF Youth title in the Girls' Las Vegas Classic, but she had to work hard to do so.
The 17-year-old accounted for Las Vegas Open winner Chloe Sutherland in the semi-finals before facing fellow Canadian Jayda Hammond in the title decider.
Their clash went back-and-forth but it was Penney that eventually got over the line by winning the seventh and final leg on double two.
