2019 Lakeside World Championship Preview

Updated: January 4, 2019

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the start of the British Darts Organization’s flagship event, the Lakeside World Championship. Held in the plush surroundings of the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, this will be the 42nd staging of the week-long tournament. Previously held in Nottingham and Stoke, it transferred to Lakeside in 1986, where it has remained.

The late Eric Bristow MBE is the most successful player in the history of the event with a total of five wins, one ahead of Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld. There are two three-time World Champions, John Lowe MBE (he was awarded the honor just days ago) and Martin Adams,

Sadly, there have been no American winners, despite some brave efforts, but we do have the satisfaction of San Bernadino’s Paul Lim recording his famous perfect 9-darter there in 1990 against Jack McKenna.

This year’s US representative is Jim Widmayer, who will be making his third appearance on the famous Lakeside stage. Widmayer made his debut in 2014, and returned again the following year. In 2015, Jim recorded impressive victories over Rhys Hayden and Rick Hofstra before going down to eventual runner-up Martin Adams.

This year, the New Yorker takes on England’s Nigel Heydon in his opener tomorrow afternoon. The second game of the session, it is scheduled to start at 2.15pm local time (9.15am Eastern/6.15am Pacific). Hopefully the experience gained from his previous visits will prove useful as he aims for a clash with Richard Veenstra (Netherlands) in the Top 32.

In addition to the Men’s event, there is the Lakeside Women’s World Championship taking place, but unfortunately, no Americans were able to qualify.

The full draw will be posted here tomorrow, and updates will be available from www.bdodarts.com.

Live streaming will be available from the BDODarts channel on YouTube.