Fans get behind veteran Paul
Barney in right direction
PAUL LIM is ready to raise the roof of the Ally Pally again after showing age means nothing with an amazing performance at the William Hill World Championship.
Legend Lim, 63, beat Mark Webster, 34, to book a second-round clash with double world champion Gary Anderson on Friday night – which is the Scotsman’s 47th birthday.
Lim, a Singapore-born American, made history 27 years ago when he became the first man to hit a ninedarter in the world championship, banking £52,000 for the perfect leg in the BDO event at Lakeside.
In an incredible atmosphere late on Monday, former chef Lim beat 2008 BDO world champion Webster 3-2.
And he later revealed one of the secrets of his success is playing darts through the night.
Lim said: “I would play darts when I cannot sleep because it helps me. When I wake up at 2am, I would rather throw darts than watch TV. Again, it is motivation because I believe that if I am to be involved in darts tournaments, I have to do what I need to do, so I spend a lot of time on it.
“How many more years can I play? I don’t know. But until the day I don’t feel excited about darts, I will keep going.”
Lim smashed in six 180s as he beat Webster but nothing will ever replace his amazing leg in 1990 in the era of Eric Bristow, Cliff Lazarenko, John Lowe and Jocky Wilson.
He said: “I watch the nine-darter when people post it on Facebook but I don’t want to watch it all the time.
“They remember that nine-dart game. That is part of what motivates me. That was history and people remember me. I want to keep the memory going that way.”
California remains his home but Lim is based out of Hong Kong, where he works for Darts Live, an electronic darts company.
His first world championship was in 1982 and he said: “I wouldn’t have believed it then if someone had said you would still be playing in 2018.”
Now it is all about Anderson, and Lim added: “When I walk up to the stage against Gary, I must have that feeling that I can play well.
“Not playing Gary, but playing my own darts and hitting my 180s. That is how you get the crowd going. I need to do something on my part to drive the crowd.
“I am supposed to go back to Hong Kong this week so I will have to change my flights now.”