Shane McGuirk from Monaghan has triumphed in the Lakeside World Darts Championship, defeating Paul Lim 6-3 in the final held on Sunday evening, reports RTE.
Entering the WDF tournament at Frimley Green in Surrey as an unseeded player, McGuirk impressively did not lose a set throughout five rounds until facing Lim, who made history in 1990 by being the first player to achieve a nine-dart finish at the World Championships.
The 29-year-old, who is known by the nickname The Arrow, quickly raced to a 4-set advantage but had to endure a tense conclusion as the 70-year-old from Singapore clawed back to 5-3, reports RTE.
Nonetheless, McGuirk maintained his composure and clinched the ninth set 3-0, securing the championship title along with a £50,000 prize.
“I can’t believe what just took place,” McGuirk stated to Blaze TV after making history as the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win the men’s championship, having achieved nine maximums and an average of 90.31, reports RTE.
“I just kept thinking to myself, ‘you have the lead, you have the start you needed, just keep going and eventually it will come’. Lucky enough it did come for me at the end. I knew after the [last] break, just come out swinging and try to get this over and done with. The first set was very nervy for both of us and I got away with it. After that, I settled, I cruised a wee bit and then he started fighting back and I was like, ‘come on, let’s get this done’. I can’t believe it. I’m world champion,” reports RTE.
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