A 15-YEAR-OLD Scottish schoolboy is two wins away from becoming the youngest ever world champion in darts.
Mitchell Lawrie is looking to eclipse Luke Littler in the age stakes as he eyes glory this weekend at the Lakeside Country Club.
The teenager thrashed Belgium No.10 seed Francois Schweyen – who is 36 years old – 4-0 in the quarter-finals of the WDF World Darts Championship.
This event, technically an amateur competition, does not have the glamour or glitz or crowds of the more successful and financially viable PDC World Darts Championship at Ally Pally.
But that will not matter for young Lawrie and his family, especially as there is £50,000 on the table for the men’s singles champion.
In his four games so far, Lawrie has not dropped a set and will now play Englishman Jenson Walker in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Star boy
Luke Littler stunned by darts’ next sensation, 15, as he posts five-word message
TOP PICKS
Best football betting sites in the UK: Top bookies in December 2025
The Renfrew thrower, whose hero is Gary Anderson, would be younger than Luke Littler – who was 17 when he lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy in January – if he is victorious at least twice more at Frimley Green.
A year after Singapore Slinger Paul Lim became the oldest ever semi-finalist in the event aged 70, Lawrie is now the youngest to reach the same stage.
Lawrie – far too young to drink, smoke, bet or drive a car – punched the air, posed for selfies and signed autographs as he walked off the stage.
He hit an average of 92.06 and only dropped three legs across the 15 played.
Lawrie said: “It was great, honestly, to win the match again.
“I think he tried to slow me down a bit but obviously it backfired on him.
“It didn’t bother me at all. It helped me if anything. I take my time anyway. Maybe he thought I wasn’t as experienced as him.
“Maybe he thought it would falter him but it just faltered him. It shows in the scoreline.
“I just go up there and have fun. I just love winding my mum up to be honest. She is there crying, I am just up there laughing. She tells me to calm down.
“I am up there laughing, smiling, enjoying myself, and I want to keep doing that.
“I had to keep my cool. Obviously you can get a bit annoyed when people try to slow you down or do tactics.
“He is a nice enough guy off the oche. On the oche obviously he really wants to win. If that is what he has to do, that is what he has to do.
“I am buzzing with the way I played the game. Played really consistently up on that stage. I do feel like I am at home when I play up there.
“It feels like I am down the pub in Renfrew, and just enjoying myself.”
Read the full article here