World Championship Women

The Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship 2014 was held from 4-11 January. For the first time in history 16 ladies took to the stage at the Lakeside Country Club. Lisa Ashton from England was the winner by beating compatriot Deta Hedman in a thrilling final.

En route to the finals Ashton had to defeat some strong opponents. In the first round she beat Dutch ace Aileen de Graaf in a wonderful match. Then Tamara Schuur was defeated and in the semi-finals the two-time reigning champion Anastasia Dobromyslova. In the final Ashton went down 0-2 in sets and 1-2 in legs, but with her fighting spirit and fantastic play she turned the finale around. Ashton with this performance became the fourth name that will be engraved on the trophy under Gulliver, Hoenselaar and Dobromyslova.

Deta Hedman made a strong impression all tournament. She reached the final without dropping a set to Lorraine Farlam, Irina Armstrong and Ann-Louise Peters. In the final she seemed to be on her way to winning the title, but when she needed just one more leg for victory she completely fell apart and let the victory slip away.