Chris Landman dumped out the 2022 Men’s Champion Neil Duff as Beau Greaves, Lisa Ashton and Jelle Klaasen booked their semi-final spots at the 2023 CT1 WDF Lakeside World Championships.
Landman ends Duff’s title run in an epic
Neil Duff had won seven out of seven on the Lakeside stage going into his quarter-final on Friday night but after missing four match darts, he crashed out of the tournament to Chris Landman in a last-leg decider.
Landman took the first set 3-2, kicking it off with a 90 checkout and then sealing it with a combination finish of 66.
‘The Countryman’ probably should have led going into the break, missing three set darts at 2-1 up in the second set. Duff duly punished him, firing in a 17-darter before sealing the set with a leg in 16 darts.
Landman hit the front again by taking the third set, successive legs in 12 and 11 darts pushing him in front of Duff, but the Northern Irishman levelled it up at the break by taking the fourth set 3-1.
Set five went the same way for Duff, who responded to dropping the first leg by winning the next three to hit the front for the first time.
Duff had his first match dart in the sixth set, missing double 18 to take it 3-1. Landman duly punished him to level the score, taking out 60 before producing a 15-darter.
Duff kicked off set seven with a match-best 116 finish but his finishing wasn’t as good later in the set, spurning one match dart in the fourth leg and then two in the fifth. Landman was again a punisher, pinning 69 in two darts to seal victory.
Glorious Greaves thrashes Murphy to reach semis
It was contrasting fortunes for the defending champions in the evening’s opening game with Beau Greaves breezing past America’s Paula Murphy in straight sets.
Murphy had beaten Almudena Fajardo and Anca Zijlstra in the previous rounds but didn’t get a single dart at a double against Greaves, who won every single leg of the match to book her spot in the semi-final.
Greaves took out finishes of 82 and 100 in the match and finished with an average of 88.41, a real statement ahead of her last four meeting with Rhian O’Sullivan.
Ashton comes from behind to defeat Hutchinson
For the second successive night, Lisa Ashton recovered from dropping the first set to achieve victory, this time beating Kirsty Hutchinson 2-1.
‘The Lancashire Rose’ missed some doubles in the opening leg and was duly punished, Hutchinson taking the first set 3-0.
Ashton got on the board in the first leg of the second set with a 17-darter and she eventually went on to seal the set 3-2, pinning a 98 checkout for a 12-darter.
The four-time World Champion was similarly impressive at the start of the next set, taking out 84 and 90 in successive legs to move within one of victory. Hutchinson halved the deficit in the set with an 18-darter but was unable to take one of a hatful of chances she had in the next leg, with Ashton eventually finding double one to seal progress.
Next up for Ashton will be a semi-final meeting with Aileen de Graaf, who has already sealed victories over Nicole Regnaud and Lorraine Winstanley.
Klaasen beats Lauby in quickfire clash
Jelle Klaasen proved a cut above against Danny Lauby in the final game of the evening, ending the American’s chances with a 4-1 win.
Both players are very quick throwers and a rapid-fire first set went the way of Klaasen, with the Dutchman recovering from dropping the first two legs to win the next three on the spin, the last with a 122 out.
Klaasen was then very quickly 2-0 up in sets going into the break, winning the second set 3-0 with legs in 14, 18 and 16 darts.
Lauby halved the deficit by taking the third set, breaking the Klaasen throw in the fifth leg to take it 3-2. He would only win another leg in the match though, Klaasen taking the fourth set 3-1 and then sealing the match by taking the fifth set 3-0 in 42 darts.
‘The Cobra’ will return to the Lakeside stage on Saturday evening to face his compatriot Chris Landman for a spot in the Men’s final.
8th December Evening Session Results
Beau Greaves 2-0 Paula Murphy
Chris Landman 4-3 Neil Duff
Lisa Ashton 2-1 Kirsty Hutchinson
Jelle Klaasen 4-1 Danny Lauby
All photo credit goes to Chris Sargeant / Tip Top Pics
