Paul Lim became the oldest player to win a match at the PDC World Championship when the 71-year-old scored a shock victory over Jeffrey de Graaf.
Backed by a partisan crowd at Alexandra Palace, the Singaporean veteran cruised to a 3-1 victory over the Dutch-born Swede.
He broke a record held by Northern Ireland’s John MaGowan, who was 67 years old when he knocked out Chris Mason in the first round of the tournament in December 2008.
“A moment like this has kept me going all these years,” Lim said.
“The level of play today is not what it was before. This tournament is the Super Bowl of darts, so I would say it’s a good time.”
Lim will face Luke Humphries in the second round after the 2024 world champion advanced with a 3-1 win over Ted Evetts in his opening match on Saturday night.
Humphries had built a 2-0 lead against his fellow Englishman before Evetts pulled back.
However, Humphries, 30, regained his intensity and clinically finished the competition with a 98.58 average, throwing eight 180s.
Lim, who won the first nine-dart world championship at the BDO event at Lakeside in 1990, beat Humphries the last time the two met at the Ally Pally five years ago.
Upon meeting again, Humphries told Sky Sports: “He’s unbelievable, he’s a legend. The crowd will be against me so it’ll be a tough match.”
Lim said: “I hope one day it can happen again. I never give up. It’s good, but it can be defeated.”
The crowd roared for Lim, who will turn 72 next month, as he won the first set against De Graaf before his opponent tied the match.
Lim took the lead again after a difficult third set as De Graaf weakened while the experienced ‘Singapore Slinger’ held his nerve in a tense fourth, sealing victory with an average of 86.52.
Wayne Mardle, a five-time world championship semi-finalist, said Lim was able to “take advantage of his opportunities” against De Graaf to secure an “incredible” victory.
“If you have the desire, the passion but most of all the ability, humans can achieve amazing things, and that was amazing,” Mardle said on Sky.
De Graaf was six years old when Lim debuted in the PDC 29 years ago.
On the other hand, the Dutchman Wessel Nijman achieved a 3-0 victory over the Czech Karel Sedlacek, while the German Gabriel Clemens beat the American Alex Spellman by the same score.
