Paul Lim became the oldest player to win a match at the PDC World Championship on Tuesday, defeating Jeffrey de Graaf 3-1 at Alexandra Palace. The Singaporean, who turns 72 next month, extended his own record set in 2020 when he overcame Luke Humphries. The pair will meet again in the second round after Humphries cruised past Ted Evetts 3-1 with eight 180s.
Lim regards his 2020 victory over Humphries as a career highlight and hopes for a repeat. 'I thought it would be really uncanny if I was to meet Luke Humphries again,' he said. 'Luke Humphries these days is not the Luke Humphries from a few years ago. He's definitely a force to be reckoned with.'
Humphries, the world number two, praised his upcoming opponent. 'It's amazing – Paul's a legend,' he said. 'The hardest thing for me is that he loves me to bits. Since we played in 2020 he always kept in touch and said I would go on to do big things. The crowd will be against me, but if I don't play well, he will fancy his chances.'
Elsewhere, Wessel Nijman swept past Karel Sedlacek 3-0, and Gabriel Clemens beat Alex Spellman. Two-time champion Gary Anderson edged Adam Hunt 3-1, saying: 'I just want to keep going so I can get a shot on the new stage next year.' Andrew Gilding, Luke Woodhouse, and David Davies also progressed to the second round.
