A year after Luke Littler became the youngest winner of the PDC World Darts Championship, 71-year-old Paul Lim became the oldest winner of a match in the tournament’s history.
Roared on by the usual raucous Alexandra Palace crowd on Saturday, the Singapore veteran stunned Dutch-born Swede Jeffrey de Graaf, winning 3-1.
Lim, who famously thew the first world championship nine-darter way back in 1990, eclipsed the mark set by Northern Irishman John MaGowan who beat Chris Mason in December 2008, aged 67.
“A moment like this has kept me going for all these years,” Lim said. “The standard of play nowadays is not like how it was before. This tournament is the Super Bowl of darts so I would say this is a good moment.”
Lim will face 2024 world champion Luke Humphries, 41 years his junior, in the second round. He beat Humphries when the pair last met in the championships five years ago.
“I hope on a given day it can happen again,” said Lim, who will turn 72 next month. “I never give up. He is good but he can be beaten.”
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