Lim, 66, stuns at world c'ship

Darter Paul Lim's ability to deliver surprises on the big stage just does not get old, as the 66-year-old Singaporean produced yet another shock on Friday at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Championship in London.

Up against world No. 34 Luke Humphries in the first round, Lim came from 2-0 down to beat the Englishman 3-2 (1-3, 1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-1) in the closed-door encounter at Alexandra Palace.

Humphries, 24, had made the quarter-finals for the past two years and won the 2019 PDC World Youth Championship.

In a post-match interview, Lim, who is the oldest competitor in the tournament, joked that his win was "one for the old guys".

He later told The Sunday Times: "It was the second-last match of the night... I was locked in and pumped up, and did not feel tired at the oche even if it was a tough and crazy match.

"It's about passion and practice. I made my fair share of misses but experience also got me through critical moments."

Lim, unranked as he does not play on the Professional Darts Corporation Pro Tour, will face world No. 9 Dimitri van den Bergh, another world youth champion (2017 and 2018), in the second round on Tuesday. The Belgian, 26, made the last eight in two of the past three editions and is the current World Matchplay champion.

After coming through the Hong Kong leg of the Asian qualifiers, this is Lim's 25th world championship campaign. In the 2018 edition, he beat 2008 British Darts Organisation world champion Mark Webster in the first round.

Since 2014, he and Harith Lim, 50, have also combined to beat higher-ranked opponents at the annual World Cup of Darts. In 2017, the unseeded pair outgunned top-seed Scotland - boasting then-world No. 2 Gary Anderson and No. 3 Peter Wright - 5-2 in the first round, before overcoming Spain 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

In 2018, the elder Lim beat reigning world darts champion Rob Cross 4-2 en route to a second-round defeat by second-seed England. The Singaporeans were at it again last year when they beat third seeds Wales, who had then-world No. 5 Gerwyn Price and world No. 24 Jonny Clayton.

Training and winning never gets old for Lim and he has no fear, despite not being able to compete as much as his younger and more illustrious rivals, who were able to play on the European circuit during the coronavirus pandemic while he was mostly indoors in Hong Kong.

He doubled his practice hours from three on electronic darts to six on steel-tip. He said: "If I can take what I have been practising to the tournament board, I will have a chance to win.

"Dimitri and I are good friends... I take my hat off to him for jumping to the top and doing so well in such a short period of time.

"My aim is try and put a stop to that. I just want to put on a good show and play a good game. Hopefully, victory becomes mine."