Leonard Gates claimed his first victory on the Lakeside stage after beating New Zealand international Brian Corbett 2-0 in the First Round of the 2023 WDF World Darts Championship.
Soulger posts the highest average in the men’s draw so far, scoring 92.11 in taking 6 out of 8 legs played in the tungsten tussle. Brian despite defeat found all three maximums in the contest, but the Winmau man gave himself more opportunities on the outer ring, hitting 6 out of 14 on the double.
The American international will hope for a deeper run at Lakeside having lost at the Last 32 stage 12 months ago against Steve Hine but is in a much better place now, having claimed three televised titles in the World Seniors as well as the 2022 PDC North American Darts Championship.
Gates moves through to face 11th Seed John Scott on Tuesday at Lakeside, with a place in the Last 16 up for grabs.
Day 2 at the 2023 WDF World Championship saw Liam Maendl-Lawrance open the action with a 2-1 victory over Welshman Mike Gillet, coming from a set down to win. Dennie Olde Kalter won the penultimate match on Day 2, averaging 86.02 in whitewashing Antony Allen 2-0 to set up a Last 32 tie with Darren Johnson.
In the Ladies Competition, 2022 Runner Up Kirsty Hutchinson defeated Mayumi Ouchi 2-0 in the afternoon session to move through and face 6th Seed Wendy Harper. Priscilla Steenbergen took the opening set in her match with Kym Mitchell but was forced into a last leg decider after the Australian forced her way back into the match.
Last year’s Quarter Finalist took the deciding leg to move through, with Priscilla facing 4 Time Champion Lisa Ashton in the 2nd Round.
Day 3 sees defending Ladies WDF World Champion Beau Greaves open her campaign against Lorraine Hyde who claimed a tournament win on the ADC Women’s Championship Tour this year.
The Last 32 of the Men’s competition also starts with 12th Seed Peter Machin opening Monday’s action against James Richardson, who defeated Christian Goedl 2-1 on Saturday to qualify.
By Harry Masterson
2023 WDF Men’s World Darts Championship Results:
Last 64:
Liam Maendl-Lawrance 2-1 Mike Gillet
Edwin Torbjornsson 2-0 Laszlo Kadar
Moreno Blom 2-0 Gabor Takacs
Jarno Bottenberg 2-0 Jamie Lewis
David Kirwan 2-0 Benjamin Pratnemer
Leonard Gates 2-0 Brian Corbett
Dennie Olde Kalter 2-0 Antony Allen
Thomas Junghans 2-0 David Pallett
2023 WDF Ladies World Darts Championship Results:
Last 32:
Kirsty Hutchinson 2-0 Mayumi Ouchi
Pricilla Steenbergen 2-1 Kym Mitchell
Suzanne Smith 2-0 Victoria Monaghan
Nicole Regnaud 2-1 Anna Forsmark
2023 WDF Men’s World Darts Championship: Day 3 Order of Play
Last 32:
Peter Machin (12) v James Richardson
Mark Barilli (9) v Jim Widmayer
Gary Stone (16) v Ricky Nauman
Barry Copeland (8) v Jonny Tata
Andy Baetens (1) v Sebastian Bialecki
James Hurrell (4) v Dennis Nilsson
2023 WDF Ladies World Darts Championship: Day 3 Order of Play
Last 16:
Anca Zijlstra (8) v Paula Murphy
Beau Greaves (1) v Lorraine Hyde
