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The Falklands War dominated the news, Pace-Man was all the rage and Eye of the Tiger topped the charts.
Also, a little-known Singaporean was making his debut at the World Darts Championship. Paul Lim went out in the first round of the 1982 tournament, losing to Dave Whitcombe. He would fall at the first hurdle for the next seven years too.
But a moment of history awaited as he hit the first-ever nine-dart finish at the World Championships in 1990 against Jack McKenna – and pocketed a £52,000 bonus in the process. Nine-darters were incredibly rare at the time and it was hard to decide who was more excited – Lim or Bullseye legend Tony Green, who was commentating on the match. Lim reached the quarter-finals of that completion, his joint-best effort at a major event.
Lim, who settled in California, was wearing a United States jersey for his iconic feat – one of four countries he has represented. Early in his career, Singapore was not affiliated with the sport’s governing body, so Lim turned out for Papua New Guinea, the US and Hong Kong before finally representing the country of his birth.
A few years after his World Championship nine-darter, Lim opted the join the newly-form PDC following the split and went on to have a respectable career, reaching the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay in 1995 and the last 16 at both the World Championship and World Grand Prix.
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Now 68, Lim is still active and has been a regular winner on the PDC’s Asian Tour in recent years, as well as competing in Seniors tournaments. He remains one of the best players in Singapore and has been action tonight as the World Cup of Darts got underway in Frankfurt. He partnered Harith Lim in the tournament opener against the Denmark team of Vladimir Andersen and Andreas Toft Jörgensen.
Sadly, it was a short tournament for the 'Singapore Slinger' as the Danes won 5-2, which didn’t go down well with the veteran’s legion of fans on social media.
“Denmark pretty good but have blood on their hands for beating Paul Lim,” tweeted one while another added: “Paul Lim is easily the most loved and respected darts player to ever grace the game. I’ve never heard a single negative thing about him! Total icon! The Singapore Slinger ! Always happy.” Another predicted: “The year is 2045…. Paul Lim is still representing Singapore.”
- Darts
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