Paul Lim Explained

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.

Career

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.

World Championship results

WSDT

Career statistics

Performance timeline

Tournament 19801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
BDO Ranked televised events
DNQ1R2R1R1R2R2R2R2RQF1R2RDNQ2RDNPNHDNQ
World MastersPrel.3R3R2R1R4R2R4R4R3RDNPPrel.DNP2RDNPNHDNQ
MFI World MatchplayNot heldDNP1RQF1R1RNot held
PDC Ranked televised events
Not yet foundedDNPRRRR1R1R2R1RDNP1RPrel.DNPPrel.DNP2R1R1R2R1RDNQ
World MatchplayNot held2RQF2R2R1R1RDNP1RDNP
World Grand PrixNot held1RRRDNP
PDC Non-ranked televised events
Not heldDNPNHDNP2R1R2RQF2R2RWD2R1RRR
PDC Past major events
Not heldDNP1RDNPNot held
Career statistics
Year-end rankingPDC not yet founded2516121417202532387714217741241318618214615710192style="text-align:center;-155style="text-align:center;-103133138105126style="text-align:center;-
Performance timeline legend
DNPDid not play in the event
  1. R
lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finals
SFlost in the semi-finalsFlost in the finalWwon the tournament

WDF major finals: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Winner1.1980Asia-Pacific Cup Singles Jerry Umbergerunknown
Winner2.1984Asia-Pacific Cup Singles Terry O'Deaunknown
Winner3.1986Asia-Pacific Cup Singles Len Heardunknown
Runner-up1.1990Asia-Pacific Cup Singles Albert Ansteyunknown

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brown, Derek . Guinness Book of Darts . 1981 . Guinness Superlatives Ltd . London . 0-85112-229-9.
  2. Web site: Las Vegas Open results . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170224125831/http://vcda.org/LVRESULT.htm . 24 February 2017 . 14 February 2007.
  3. Web site: Ladbrokes WDC Day Seven . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121231052500/http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/118l9m5pe8k9c1nz8yeoc1ogq7/title/ladbrokes-wdc-day-seven . 31 December 2012 . 20 December 2012 . . dmy-all.
  4. Web site: 18 December 2013 . Ladbrokes World Championship Day Six . PDC.
  5. Web site: bwin World Cup of Darts First Round . . 7 June 2014.
  6. Web site: bwin World Cup of Darts Second Round . . 8 June 2014.
  7. Web site: 2015 Soft Tip Dartslive France Player Prize Money . Darts Database . 15 December 2015.
  8. Web site: William Hill World Championship Day Four . . 22 December 2015.
  9. Web site: Betway World Cup of Darts Round Two . . 22 December 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161028022154/http://www.pdc.tv/world-cup-of-darts/article/szq0pfcgcaye13w8ej1zypox3/title/betway-world-cup-of-darts-round-two . 28 October 2016 . dmy-all .
  10. Web site: Paul Lim 2016. Darts Database. 22 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161223005151/http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=1566. 23 December 2016.
  11. Web site: "Dream Come True" For Lim. PDC. 10 June 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170612185008/http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/b2wub8sg0ndl1sx75jxiqt57p/title/dream-come-true-for-lim. 12 June 2017. dmy-all.
  12. Web site: Dutch Delight In Betway World Cup of Darts. PDC. 10 June 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170612190516/http://www.pdc.tv/news/article/dlghacxun5vo1tf4e5u54f5rt/title/betway-world-cup-of-darts-finals-day. 12 June 2017. dmy-all.
  13. Web site: 2018 PDC World Championship Results.
  14. Web site: 2018 Betway World Cup Day Three. 2 June 2018 .
  15. Web site: 2018 PDC World Cup of Darts Results.
  16. Web site: World Championship: Lim Among Asian Tour Qualifiers. 14 October 2018 .