2018 Lakeside World Championship – Day Nine Result

Updated: January 14, 2018

With Justin van Tergouw (Youth) and Lisa Ashton (Women) both completing a successful defense of the title they won a year ago, it just remained to be seen whether reigning Men’s Champion Glen Durrant could complete the set.

In a clash of the top two seeds, it looked like being a close one, and it certainly was!

It was #2 seed Mark McGeeney who threw first – and went a set up. Durrant – helped by legs of 11 and 12 – soon tied the score. McGeeney again held his throw to win in the third in 13, 17, and 14 darts, only for “Duzza” to draw level, this time with legs of 15, 11, and 12. To continue the sequence, the next four sets all were won by the player throwing first, and at 4-4, it was still anybody’s game.

Durrant finally broke serve in the ninth set, and then held his throw – despite a first leg 157 checkout from his opponent – to open a two set lead. Under extreme pressure, McGeeney not only held his throw to win the eleventh, but broke the World #1 to make it 6-6 – and take us to a deciding set.

McGeeney held serve to move ahead. Then, a well-timed 12 (180, 140, 100, 81) broke Durrant, and left him one leg from victory. What’s more, he had the advantage of throwing first! Whether the occasion got to him, I don’t know, but he wasn’t even able to find a three-figure score in the third, and the two-time World Master broke throw to make it 2-1. Then it was 2-2. A superb check from 149 to break McGeeney again in 15 gave the Middlesbrough man a distinct edge, and a nice 16 – with McGeeney back in the 200’s – meant that, for the first time,all three Lakeside Championships were retained by the previous year’s winner!