Paul Lim | |
Fullname: | Paul Lim Leong Hwa 林良華 |
Nickname: | "The Singapore Slinger" |
Birth Date: | 1954 1, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Singapore |
Since: | 1973 |
Darts: | 21g Target |
Laterality: | Right-handed |
Bdo: | 1980–1994 |
Pdc: | 1994– |
Wdf: | 1980–1994, 2019– |
Bdo World: | Quarter Final: 1990 |
World Masters: | Last 16: 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988 |
Pdc World: | Last 16: 2001 |
Matchplay: | Quarter Final: 1995 |
Grand Prix: | Last 16: 1998, 1999 |
Vegas: | Last 32: 2004 |
Us Open: | Last 64: 2008, 2010 |
Seniors World: | Last 24: 2022 |
Seniors Masters: | Last 20: 2022 |
Achievement: | First player to achieve nine dart finish at World Championships (1990) |
Updated: | 19 November 2007 |
Paul Lim Leong Hwa[1] (born 25 January 1954) is a Singaporean professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect nine-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round match against Jack McKenna.
Lim made his World Championship debut in 1982, losing a first-round match to Dave Whitcombe. He failed to progress beyond the second round for the next seven years. In 1990, Lim achieved the first World Championship nine-dart finish against Jack McKenna in the second round on 9 January and won a bonus prize of £52,000. It was the only year that Lim reached the quarter-finals of the event, losing again to Cliff Lazarenko.
In 1994, Lim decided to switch to the World Darts Council (now PDC) and made his debut at the 1994 World Matchplay. He never enjoyed any success in the PDC – he won only one match in the PDC World Championship, despite appearing in the tournament each year between 1997 and 2002.
Lim reached the last 16 of the Las Vegas Open in January 2007.[2]
Lim made his first appearance in the World Championships for 11 years after being awarded a place in the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship, as a result of being the World Soft Tip Champion. He beat Mohd Latif Sapup in the preliminary round 4–1 to set up a first-round match against second favourite for the tournament Michael van Gerwen. Lim lost 3–0, despite hitting the tournament's first 170 finish as well as twelve scores of 140 or more during the match.[3] Lim qualified for the 2014 World Championship via the International Qualifiers. He was drawn against Japan's Morihiro Hashimoto in the preliminary round and was beaten 4–2.[4]
Lim made his debut in the 2014 World Cup of Darts as he represented Singapore with Harith Lim. They won five legs in a row in the opening round against Ireland to progress with a 5–3 win.[5] In the second round Lim lost to South Africa's Devon Petersen, but Harith beat Graham Filby, resulting in a doubles match to settle the tie. Singapore were edged out 4–3, but never had a dart for the match.[6]
Lim lost in the final of the 2015 French Dartslive event to Leonard Gates, but won the Soft Tip Qualifier for the 2016 World Championship for the second time by seeing off Boris Krčmar 4–2 in the final.[7] He went on to play Aleksandr Oreshkin in the preliminary round and missed two match darts in a 2–1 set defeat.[8] Lim and Harith made it to the second round of the 2016 World Cup, but lost their singles matches 4–2 to Austria's Mensur Suljović and Rowby-John Rodriguez.[9] Lim won the Soft Tip Dartslive events in Taipei and Korea during the year.[10]
In the first round of the 2017 World Cup Lim and Harith met the number one seeds of Scotland represented by Gary Anderson and Peter Wright. A 100 finish from Lim completed a huge 5–2 shock victory for Singapore and they then beat Spain 4–0 in a doubles match to make it through to the quarter-finals of the event for the first time.[11] Lim lost 4–1 to Belgium's Kim Huybrechts (who averaged 121.97), but Harith defeated Ronny Huybrechts 4–2. Singapore's tournament was ended in the deciding doubles match as Belgium progressed 4–2.[12]
In the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship, Lim defeated Kai Fan Leung, and number 30 seed Mark Webster to set up a second round clash with Gary Anderson. He lost the match 4-1 and also missed double 12 for a nine dart finish.[13] In the 2018 PDC World Cup of Darts, he again paired up with Harith, where they defeated New Zealand 5-3 to set up a second round clash with England. In the first round, Paul defeated world champion Rob Cross 4-2 with an average of 102.29. However, Harith lost his singles match to Dave Chisnall, meaning a doubles match was required which they lost 4-1.[14] [15]
Lim took part in the 2019 WDF World Cup representing Hong Kong instead of Singapore.
Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BDO Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DNQ | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 1R | 2R | DNQ | 2R | DNP | NH | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Masters | Prel. | 3R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 2R | 4R | 4R | 3R | DNP | Prel. | DNP | 2R | DNP | NH | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MFI World Matchplay | Not held | DNP | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | Not held | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC Ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not yet founded | DNP | RR | RR | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | DNP | 1R | Prel. | DNP | Prel. | DNP | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | DNQ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Matchplay | Not held | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | DNP | 1R | DNP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Not held | 1R | RR | DNP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not held | DNP | NH | DNP | 2R | 1R | 2R | QF | 2R | 2R | WD | 2R | 1R | RR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDC Past major events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Not held | DNP | 1R | DNP | Not held | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year-end ranking | PDC not yet founded | 25 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 32 | 38 | 77 | 142 | 177 | 412 | 413 | 186 | 182 | 146 | 157 | 101 | 92 | style="text-align:center; | - | 155 | style="text-align:center; | - | 103 | 133 | 138 | 105 | 126 | style="text-align:center; | - |
Performance timeline legend | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DNP | Did not play in the event |
| lost in the early rounds of the tournament (RR = Round robin) | QF | lost in the quarter-finals | |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 1. | 1980 | Asia-Pacific Cup Singles | Jerry Umberger | unknown | |
Winner | 2. | 1984 | Asia-Pacific Cup Singles | Terry O'Dea | unknown | |
Winner | 3. | 1986 | Asia-Pacific Cup Singles | Len Heard | unknown | |
Runner-up | 1. | 1990 | Asia-Pacific Cup Singles | Albert Anstey | unknown |