STEPHEN BUNTING won Stage Eight of DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD soft-tip championship, while Paul Lim's run to the semi-finals in Hong Kong has kept him at the top of the rankings to earn a Ladbrokes World Darts Championship place.
Bunting followed up June's DARTSLIVE win in La Rochelle, France, by winning through the field in Hong Kong, edging out Royden Lam 3-2 in a tight final.
Bunting's run to the final included victories over Stage Seven winner Christian Perez, former World Championship qualifier Scott Mackenzie and Japan's Shingo Enomata.
He then edged a tight final against Lam, who missed a dart at double 16 to win 3-1 in the second leg of 701, before seeing Bunting win the decisive leg of Cricket to take victory.
The event was the final stage before December's Grand Final in Hong Kong, with Paul Lim's run to the semi-finals, where he lost to Lam, maintaining his position at the head of the DARTSLIVE rankings to mean that the veteran ace qualifies for a second successive year to play in the Ladbrokes World Darts Championship.
Lam has also sealed his World Championship place by winning the recent Greater China Qualifier.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD STAGE EIGHT
November 3, Hong Kong
Last 16
Scott Mackenzie (Hong Kong), Boris Krcmar (Croatia), Liu Yuan Jun (China), Harith Lim (Singapore), Gilbert Ulang (Philippines), Darryl Fitton (UK), T Kawamura (Japan), DJ Sayre (USA)
Quarter-Finalists
Alain Abiabi (Philippines), Tony Martin (UK), Yuta Kazama (Japan), Deng Yin (China)
Semi-Finalists
Christian Perez (Philippines), Paul Lim (Singapore)
Final
Stephen Bunting (UK) 3-2 Royden Lam (Hong Kong)
THE FINAL - LEG-BY-LEG
701/Cricket/Cricket/701/Choice. Loser Throws First.
0-0 - Bunting wins the bull and throws first.
0-1 - Bunting's slow start is punished as Lam hits three bulls for a hat-trick in his opening throw, and when the English ace misses the bull to win the leg, Lam hits double 14. Final averages were Bunting 122.25, Lam 142.25.
1-1 - Bunting wins Cricket with 178 points and a 5.60 average to Royden's 5.50 average and 147 points.
1-2 - Royden wins the second game of cricket with 400 points and a 5.43 average to Bunting's 5.67 average and 349 points.
2-2 - Bunting throws first, but Lam is first to the double after 12 darts. 'The Wolf' has 101 left – his first dart slips out of his hand and he hits a S19, his second dart hits the bull to leave a match dart a D16 – which he misses. Bunting returns on 71 and wins the leg with S7, S14, Bull to finish with a 120.00 average to Royden's 150.00 average.
3-2 - Bunting wins the bull and throws first, Lam choosing to play Cricket. Bunting changes tactics to go for scoring rather than closing, but the game is on a knife-edge as both players make mistakes. After a marathon 12 visits to the oche each, Bunting hits the bull to win with 856 points and a 5.08 average to Lam's 829 points but higher 5.64 average.
DARTSLIVE - THE WORLD
Soft Darts World Championship 2013 Schedule
Stage One - April 28, Hong Kong
Stage Two - May 26, Hong Kong
Stage Three - June 16, La Rochelle, France
Stage Four - July 13, Seoul, Korea
Stage Five - August 25, Shanghai, China
Stage Six - September 21, Las Vegas, USA
Stage Seven - October 13, Hong Kong
Stage Eight - November 3, Hong Kong
Grand Final - Dec 14-15, Hong Kong
For more information and entry details, please visit:
http://darts-theworld.com/en/schedule/