2022 WDF World Darts Championship

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2022 Lakeside WDF World Championship** was the first World Championship organised only by World Darts Federation. Tournament was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, which hosted the BDO World Darts Championship from 1986 to 2019. The titles were won by Neil Duff in the men's competition, and Beau Greaves in the women's.

World Darts Federation made the decision to postpone the tournament by three months, due to growing concerns and potential government restrictions relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Neil Duff and Thibault Tricole became the first players from Northern Ireland and France respectively to reach the final of a World Darts Championship. In his third round victory over Luke Littler, Richard Veenstra recorded the highest dart average in the venue's history with 104.91 points. In her second-round match, Veronika Ihász hit the biggest outshot for a female competitor with a 164 points. 18-year-old Beau Greaves became the youngest ever winner of a senior world championship, defeating Kirsty Hutchinson 4–0 in the final. She also produced a record average of 92.02, which stands as the best in a final of the Women's World Championship, and the third-best in the history of the Women's World Championship.

## Men's

### Format and qualifiers

Qualifying criteria is as follows (cut-off date 4 December 2021):

1. Top 16 players in WDF World Rankings (seeded)
2. Latest winners of the eleven Platinum/Gold ranked tournaments (World Championship, World Masters (later cancelled), Dutch Open, Scottish Open, England Open, Denmark Open, British Open, Welsh Open, Seacoast Open, Irish Open, World Open (later cancelled))
3. First and second ranked players from each of eight regional tables (Australia, Canada, East Europe, New Zealand, North Europe, UK/Ireland, USA, West Europe)
4. Next highest ranked players in the WDF World Rankings to bring the total entry list to 44
5. Two qualifiers from the final qualification tournament in Assen, Netherlands on 5 December 2021
6. Two qualifiers from the final qualification tournament in Frimley Green, England on 5 December 2021

Seeded players begin the competition in the second round. The remaining 32 qualifiers will start in the first round.

The top 16 men in the world rankings that accept their invitations will be seeded into the second round. The provisional list of seeds and invited players is as follows:

1. Brian Raman
2. Thibault Tricole
3. Wayne Warren
4. Aaron Turner
5. **Neil Duff**  **(Champion)**
6. James Hurrell
7. Andy Baetens
8. Luke Littler
9. Richard Veenstra
10. Scott Marsh
11. Jules van Dongen
12. Nick Fullwell
13. Michael Warburton
14. Cameron Menzies
15. Leonard Gates
16. Antony Allen
* Donovan Lottering
* Justin Thompson
* David Cameron
* Shawn Burt
* Rory Hansen
* László Kádár
* Sebastian Steyer
* Haupai Puha
* Landon Gardiner
* Andreas Harrysson
* John Desreumaux
* James Richardson
* Dave Parletti
* Connor Scutt
* Mark Barilli
* Mark Graham
* Ben Hazel
* Francesco Raschini
* Martin Adams
* Paul Hogan
* Lee Shewan
* Steve Hine
* Ian Jones
* Jim McEwan
* Dave Prins
* Ryan de Vreede

**Lakeside Qualifiers***First round*
* Jarred Cole
* Johnny Haines

**Alternates***First round*
* Kevin Luke
* Jordan Brooks
* Shaun McDonald
* John Scott

Jim Williams (WDF ranked 2, UK/Ireland ranked 2) and Chris Landman (WDF ranked 16) withdrew to play in the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship. Aleksei Kadochnikov (WDF ranked 17) and Antony Allen (WDF ranked 18) replaced them as seeds, while their places in the tournament were filled by the next highest ranked unqualified players from the WDF rankings, Ian Jones and Jim McEwan. Ross Montgomery (#4 seed) and Mario Vandenbogaerde (Assen qualifier) withdrew after winning PDC tour cards in January 2022. They were replaced by Roman Obukhov and Donovan Lottering who had previously turned down their invitations. Aaron Turner (WDF ranked 19) replaced Montgomery as a second round entrant, but was not seeded.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the WDF excluded the Russian players Aleksei Kadochnikov and Roman Obukhov. They were replaced by John Scott (next highest in WDF rankings) and Landon Gardiner (previously withdrawn) respectively. Leonard Gates (WDF ranked 20) took Kadochnikov's seeding. Australia region #1 ranked Raymond Smith withdrew to play in 2022 PDC World Darts Championship. His place was offered to #3 ranked Donovan Lottering, who also declined his invite, thus he was replaced by #4 ranked Justin Thompson. Shawn Burt, Rory Hansen and Matt Campbell finished joint second in the Canada regional table. The WDF decided to invite all three players to the championships, a total of four from the table. Campbell later withdrew to play in the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship. As players ranked below 4 in the regional tables could not be invited, he was replaced by the next highest ranked unqualified player from the WDF rankings, Dave Prins. New Zealand region number 1 ranked Ben Robb withdrew to play in the 2022 PDC World Darts Championship. Second ranked player Warren Parry also declined his invitation. They were replaced by Haupai Puha and Landon Gardiner, ranked 3 and 4 in the New Zealand table respectively. Having initially accepted invitations to compete, North Europe #1 Roman Obukhov, Australia #2 Jeremy Fagg and New Zealand #4 Landon Gardiner withdrew. They were replaced by alternates based on the WDF world rankings: WDF #38 Kevin Luke, #40 Jordan Brooks and #41 Shaun McDonald. 37th ranked Ben Robb and #39 Raymond Smith had already rejected their invitations.

## Women's

### Format and qualifiers

Qualifying criteria is as follows (cut-off date 4 December 2021):

1. Top 8 players in WDF World Rankings (seeded)
2. Latest winners of the eleven Platinum/Gold ranked tournaments (World Championship, World Masters (later cancelled), Dutch Open, Scottish Open, England Open, Denmark Open, British Open, Welsh Open, Seacoast Open, Irish Open, World Open (later cancelled))
3. Top ranked players from each of eight regional tables (Australia, Canada, East Europe, New Zealand, North Europe, UK/Ireland, USA, West Europe)
4. Next highest ranked players in the WDF World Rankings to bring the total entry list to 22
5. One qualifier from the final qualification tournament in Assen, Netherlands on 5 December 2021
6. One qualifier from the final qualification tournament in Frimley Green, England on 5 December 2021

Seeded players begin the competition in the second round. The remaining 16 qualifiers will start in the first round.

The top eight women in the world rankings that accept their invitations will be seeded into the second round. The provisional list of seeds and invited players is as follows:

1. Deta Hedman
2. Corrine Hammond
3. Anca Zijlstra
4. Aileen de Graaf
5. Beau Greaves
6. Kirsty Hutchinson
7. Maria O'Brien
8. Lorraine Winstanley
* Paula Murphy
* Mikuru Suzuki

**Regional Table Qualifiers***First round*
* Veronika Ihász
* Tori Kewish
* Desi Mercer
* Darlene van Sleeuwen
* Suzanne Smith
* Lorraine Hyde
* Laura Turner
* Paula Jacklin
* Amanda Harwood
* Vicky Pruim
* Jo Clements
* Priscilla Steenbergen
* Marjolein Noijens

**Lakeside Qualifier***First round*
* Rhian O'Sullivan

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the WDF excluded the Russian players Anastasia Dobromyslova and Elena Shulgina. They were replaced by Fallon Sherrock (previously withdrawn) and Jo Clements (next highest in WDF rankings) respectively. Fallon Sherrock withdrew from the tournament in March 2022 and was replaced by Priscilla Steenbergen. Sherrock's seeded place was taken by Corrine Hammond (WDF #9) New Zealand region #1 ranked Wendy Harper declined her invitation. Her place was taken by second ranked Desi Mercer.

## Statistics

### Top averages

This table shows the highest averages achieved by players throughout the tournament.

## Representation

This table shows the number of players by country in the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship. A total of 18 nationalities were represented.

## References

1. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championships 2022 - Rescheduled. World Darts Federation (15 December 2021).
2. ↑ Beau Greaves thrashes Kirsty Hutchinson. World Darts Federation (10 April 2022).
3. ↑ Info World Championship Men 2022. World Darts Federation.
4. ↑ Info World Championship Women 2022. World Darts Federation.
5. ↑ Info World Championship Boys 2022. World Darts Federation.
6. ↑ Info World Championship Girls 2022. World Darts Federation.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 WDF Rules.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lakeside WDF World Championships 2022 - Qualification Criteria. World Darts Federation (25 July 2021).
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Invitation List – 2022 Lakeside WDF World Championships. World Darts Federation (30 November 2021).
10. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championship Qualifiers Men 2022 NL. World Darts Federation (5 December 2021).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lakeside WDF World Championship Qualifiers Men 2022 UK. World Darts Federation (5 December 2021). Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
12. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championships – Men's schedule confirmed. World Darts Federation (29 January 2022). Retrieved on March 24, 2022.
13. ↑ The Race to Lakeside - 8 Weeks to Go!. World Darts Federation (6 November 2021).
14. ↑ Players Confirmed – 2022 Lakeside WDF World Championships. World Darts Federation (6 December 2021).
15. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championship Qualifiers Women 2022 NL. World Darts Federation (5 December 2021). Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
16. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championship Qualifiers Women 2022 UK. *World Darts Federation* (5 December 2021). Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
17. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championships - Revised line up confirmed. World Darts Federation (12 March 2022).
18. ↑ Lakeside WDF World Championships - Fallon Sherrock. World Darts Federation (16 March 2022).