Paul Lim made World Darts Championship history at Alexandra Palace – and then hoped lightning would strike twice against Luke Humphries.
Lim became the oldest player to win a match at the event as the Singaporean, who turns 72 next month, defeated Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 to extend his own record set in 2020. On that occasion he overcame Humphries and the pair are reunited in round two after the world No 2 produced eight 180s in crushing Ted Evetts 3-1.
Lim regards his victory over Humphries five years ago as a bigger achievement than setting a new age record for the tournament and is an admirer of his next opponent. “I thought it would be really uncanny if I was to meet Luke Humphries again,” he said. “Luke Humphries these days is not the Luke Humphries from a few years ago. He’s definitely a force to be reckoned with and is one of the best players in the world.
“Moments like this have kept me going all these years. The moment came and I took advantage of it.”
Humphries was in ominous form as he swept aside Evetts but he said facing Lim would pose an unusual challenge. “It’s amazing – Paul’s a legend. The hardest thing for me is that he loves me to bits,” Humphries said. “I talk to Paul and he says: ‘You’re my favourite player.’ And then I’ve got to go and play him, so it’s hard!
“Since we played in 2020 he always kept in touch and said: ‘You will go on to do big things.’ And he’s right. The crowd will be against me and if I don’t play well, he will fancy his chances.”
Wessel Nijman also reached round two with a straight sets victory over Karel Sedlacek while Germany’s Gabriel Clemens swept aside Alex Spellman in the evening’s final match.
In the afternoon session, the two-time champion Gary Anderson edged through his first-round clash with Adam Hunt, and said the thought of playing in a new arena is keeping him going.
Anderson is a threat to the favourites this year and, with the tournament moving to a new, bigger stage at the same venue as part of a new deal in the future, he wants to remain in the mix.
“I got over the line, if you think, you lose,” he said of his win. “If you think and get into it, it’s not good for you – you try not to think. This is what it’s all about. I just want to keep going so I can get a shot on the new stage next year.”
Elsewhere in the afternoon session on day three, Andrew Gilding beat Cam Crabtree 3-1, Luke Woodhouse saw off Boris Krcmar by the same score and David Davies whitewashed Mario Vandenbogaerde.
