Monday, December 16, 2024
Column CM138
Paul Lim
Birthday: January 25, 1954
Lives in: Singapore
Born in: Singapore
Nickname: Singapore Slinger
Darts: 21-gram Target
Walk-on-Music: Walk of Life (Dire Straits)
The now 70-year-old Paul Lim Leong Hwa has moved around the world all his life. He was born in Singapore, lived and worked for some time in London, played darts for Papua New Guinea, lived for a long time in the USA, later worked and lived in Hong Kong and now is back in Singapore.
But no matter where he lived and worked, he always played darts there as well.
He came in contact with the sport when he lived in London in the mid-1970s where he trained as a chef and later worked as a chef in the Chelsea Hotel in Knightsbridge. With colleagues he went to the nearby Robin Hodd Pub – not only to have a drink but to play darts too. There was no league at the pub, but once a week a tournament was held, in which you could win a bottle of whiskey. Lim never drank much but shared the whiskey he won he provided his friends and acquaintances. The pub by the still exists today – it is called Conolly‘s Bar.
Cooking remained, and still does today, an important part of Lim’s life – though, so far, I haven’t tracked down anybody who actually ate what he cooked…
Of course, at this time only steel darts was played but Lim started to play soft-darts as well later and was for a long time one of the best soft-tip dart players in the world – and worked for some time as a consultant for DartsLive, so darts indeed was his job. During his time in the USA he played American Darts as well. But Lim has always emphasized that he is essentially a steel dart player.
From 1982 until the split in 1994, Lim took part (with the exception of 1993) – every year in the BDO World Championship. The quarterfinals were his best result during that time. Nevertheless he became a celebtrity, when in 1990 he threw the first even perfect 9-darter at the Lakeside Country Club. It remained the only one until 2009 when Raymond van Barneveld threw one during the PDC World Championship.
In 1994, Lim was one of the players who split from the BDO and founded the WDC (World Darts Councel, now PDC) despite his being a close friend of Olly Croft OBE, the BDO founder, and his wife Lorna.
Lim never advanced further than the last 16 in the PDC World Championship in which he took part every year from 1997-2002.
After Lim won the first big DartsLive event in 2012, the PDC invited him to take part in the PDC World Championship 2013. Lim qualified again in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. During the World Championship in 2018 he almost threw another 9-darter. Since the fourth PDC World Cup of Darts, Paul together with Harth Lim (no relation) has partnered as Team Singapore.
Lim has children and his son Chris has made his own mark winning some tournaments.
In 2024, Lim qualified by the WDF Asia Ranking Table for the WDF World Championship and once again wrote history on the Lakeside stage, when he reached the final, as oldest player ever to take part in a World Championship.
And yet again – due to his emotions, his joy in playing darts and due to the way he interacts with the crowd – Lim touched the hearts of the people.
In the “Ultimate Book of Darts” by American Anne Kramer, who knows Paul Lim quite well, you can find the following advice for other players from Lim:
Throwing darts is not a difficult thing to learn and do. But it is definitely tough to be good at. There are various points you need to look at if you are a beginner and want to learn the game or if you are an intermediate player and want to get better AND finally if you are a good player and want to compete. But please bear in mind all these steps (of want to be) are strongly base on the foundation of your basic fundamental of throwing darts.
Be comfortable in all senses (i.e. the grip, the stance, the balance, and the throw) you have to feel comfortable.
Cut down as many movements of your body as possible, do not use your body to help throw the darts.
Learn the basic fundamental of a simple throw, using your upper hand, the throw with the wrist break and follow through with the palm facing down at the finish point. The follow through is the most important.
Practice the follow through routine as much as you can, so that the throw becomes a memory (muscle memory). This will build consistency.
Understand the line of throw and the flight path of the dart to the target on the dartboard.
Do not find excuses of having no time to practice. All you need is fifteen to thirty minutes of throwing and yout can do it at home, so there are no excuses.
When playing a match, throw the same way like you do during practice whenever and whoever you are playing against.
Watch how your dart lands on the dartboard, because you can tell if you are releasing your darts properly or consistently from the way it sticks in the dartboard.
Do not try to be too careful throwing because in doing so you will throw differently. Just look at the target, set up and throw. The more you think and analyze your throw the more damage there is. More simply, do not think too much.
And last, enjoy the game. Have fun regardless. This is supposed to be fun from the start, so have FUN …and enjoy the game.
What the future will hold for Lim no one can say. Perhaps he’ll qualify for more WDF World Championships, perhaps he‘ ll manage to qualify by the PDC Asia Tour for a PDC World Championship.
Lim no longer plays at the same level as he did a few years ago, but perhaps he’ll somehow manage to write even more history. What one knows for certain is that he plans to get children and youth in Asia more interested the sport and make it even more popular.
No one could be a better ambassador for the sport than Paul Lim.
