Jitse van der Wal has secured his debut at the WDF World Championship, just ten months after walking away from PDC Q-School amid struggles with his mental wellbeing. The former Tour Card holder completed an impressive run through Sunday's last-chance qualifier at the Lakeside Country Club, defeating Kevin Cottiss 6-0 in his decisive match.
Van der Wal dropped just three legs across four matches on Sunday, winning 19 to secure his World Championship debut. The 27-year-old Dutchman opened with a 4-0 victory over Kevin Lankhuizen before producing his best performance of the afternoon against Paul Redfern. Averaging 105.17, Van der Wal secured a 4-1 win to move into the quarter-finals, where he defeated Reece Colley 5-2. That set up a decisive meeting with Kevin Cottiss, who had eliminated former PDC professional Jamie Hughes 5-2 in the previous round. Cottiss was unable to build on that victory, however, as 'The Frisian Viking' completed a 6-0 whitewash with a 92.97 average. Van der Wal also produced an 11-darter and four scores of 140, according to the WDF, while his opponent averaged 79.56.
Having earned a PDC Tour Card at the beginning of 2024, Van der Wal spent two seasons competing professionally before losing his playing rights at the end of 2025. He returned to European Q-School in January and successfully reached the Final Stage, only to withdraw after the opening two days. In a public statement at the time, Van der Wal explained that he was mentally exhausted and that his experiences on the ProTour had damaged his confidence, despite feeling that his performances had been improving. The Dutchman announced that he would not compete in any further PDC tournaments during 2026, instead intending to focus on WDF events where possible while prioritising his mental wellbeing.
His qualification comes after a career that has already included a nine-darter at the 2021 UK Open, which he hit against Sebastian Bialecki, and victory at the 2023 Hungarian Classic. He also becomes the fourth player from Friesland to compete at Lakeside, following Rick Hofstra, Danny Noppert and Jarno Bottenberg.
Paul Lewis also booked his first appearance at the famous Frimley Green venue with a 6-1 victory over Antony Allen. Lewis had to survive a deciding-leg encounter with Belgian youngster Jenson Remory in the last 32, edging through 4-3 before facing former BDO world champion Scott Mitchell. Lewis produced an 86.10 average to defeat the 2015 Lakeside winner 4-2, before overcoming Pat Scurfield 5-2 with an 87.64 average to move within one win of qualification. Allen had earned his place in the deciding match by defeating Scott Marsh 5-3, but Lewis controlled their encounter from the outset. The Englishman averaged 88.08, landed two maximums and completed a convincing 6-1 victory with a 93 checkout.
Four further qualification places were available on Sunday, with the women's, Open Youth and Girls' competitions completing their respective World Championship fields. Kim Holden claimed the remaining women's place after defeating Paige Pauling 6-3 in the decisive match, despite Pauling recording a slightly higher average of 63.47 compared with Holden's 61.81. Holden had earlier survived a deciding-leg quarter-final against Leanne Topper, winning 4-3, before overcoming Macy Gibbons 5-3 in the semi-finals. Pauling reached the decider with victories over Kelly Haverson and Jo Rolls, but was unable to complete her qualification bid.
In the Open Youth competition, Cori Wiltshire edged out James Wright 5-4 in a deciding-leg contest, while Christian Ennis secured the other available place with a 5-3 victory over Owen Bryceland. Ennis produced an 84.61 average in his decisive match, the highest of the four players contesting the two youth qualification places. Rebecca Allen completed the six qualifiers by defeating Olivia Heaton 5-2 in the Girls' competition, having previously beaten Lucy Shepherd 4-1 in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere in the men's draw, former PDC Tour Card holder Ron Meulenkamp suffered a 4-0 defeat against Reece Pauling in the last 32. Patrick Maat also came close to progressing, missing a match dart before losing 4-3 to Scott Marsh.
The six qualifiers complete the field for the 2026 WDF World Championship, which takes place from 27 November to 6 December at the Lakeside Country Club. The draw is expected during the week beginning 2 November, when Van der Wal, Lewis and the other last-chance qualifiers will discover their opening opponents.
