THE WORLD 2016 consists of 5 STAGES where players compete fiercely to get the title. STAGE 3 was held on Sunday August 14 in Taipei. All players were determined to perform at their best in this middle STAGE. Amid increasingly fierce competitions among the players, Paul Lim who is known as the legend of soft tip darts won the STAGE.
Lim competed against Boris Krcmar in semi-final. Lim is the grand champion of THE WORLD 2011 that is its first while Krcmar is the ranking champion of 2014 and 2015. The Croatian player broke the first leg with 14-dart finish and Lim broke the next with his amazing STATS of 7.75MPR. The 2 leading players thrilled the audience with their brilliant performance.
Then, each player took the leg where they threw first. In the last leg, Krcmar chose 701 instead of throwing first. Lim was leading from the start but he struggled when his remaining points were 146. Krcmar had 157 left at that time but he failed to take this opportunity. He missed a triple 19 and hit a single 7 after hitting a BULL 2 times. Lim finished his 40 points to advance to the final.
In the final, Lim's opponent was Mitsumasa Hoshino who took down the STAGE 2 champion, Alex Reyes in the semi-final. Hoshino was aiming to take the title of THE WORLD and threw first in the 1st leg. The leg went to Hoshino and Lim took the 2nd. In the 3rd leg, Lim hit 9 mark in the 2nd round and led the game to break.
In the 4th leg, Lim threw first and faced the critical point by the 5th leg. He had 135 points while Hoshino had 148 left. Lim kept his cool under pressure and completed the game with BULL, a triple 19 and a double 14 to be STAGE 3 champion. Then, he pumped his fist in the air with a huge smile.
This is Lim's first STAGE champion title in 4 years after his STAGE 1 winning in 2012 besides his victories in big tournaments such as THE WORLD GRAND FINAL in 2011 and SUPER DARTS 2015. In those years, he had been one of the leading contenders for the top spot in the annual ranking. Fans across the world are waiting to see whether Lim can be on the top in 2016.
| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Boris Krcmar |
| 2 | Alex Reyes |
| 3 | Leonard Gates |
| 4 | Paul Lim |
| 5 | Park Hyunchul |
In the point ranking, Krcmar is the leader and Reyes, best 4 of STAGE 3 follows as the 2nd. With his victory in this stage, Lim advanced to the 4th following Leonard Gates on the 3rd.
Moreover, 4 Japanese players competed in the BEST 8 of STAGE 3 and only Hoshino won. However, the other 3 jumped in the point ranking. This shows the outstanding strength of Japanese players.
SOFT DARTS WORLD CUP 2016 will be held on Saturday December 3, the day before GRAND FINAL. In SOFT DARTS WORLD CUP, a representing team of each country will compete. As Japan has high player population, its team will be one of the strongest contenders of the title. We can't wait to see how the team of each country competes against the strong team.
THE WORLD 2016 PREMIUM STAGE on August 27 is also a must-see event for darts fans. PREMIUM STAGE doesn't award any point but the berth to GRAND FINAL will go to the champion. Without being TOP 8 in the point ranking, the champion can play in GRAND FINAL. Therefore, many competitive players from all over the world will participate in the special stage. Who will get the berth of GRAND FINAL first? Don't miss the live webcast on Saturday August 27!
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