Author: Richard Edwards

Paul Lim is determined to keep his momentum rolling when he competes in the Shanghai Darts Masters tomorrow.

Fresh from his heroics at the Betway World Cup and Darts, where him and his partner Harith Lim dumped out top seeds Scotland on their way to a run to the quarter-finals, as well as a win in stage two of the World Soft Darts Championships in France, the 63-year-old takes to the stage in Shanghai for the World Series event this week.

The Singapore thrower pushed eventual champion Michael van Gerwen close in the inaugural Shanghai Darts Masters 12 months ago, narrowly losing 6-4 in the first round, with Dave Chisnall this year standing in his way in the opening round tomorrow.

“I’m really looking forward to the Shanghai Masters,” he said. “It’s always a privilege and honour to be part of the PDC tour, because of its prestige and having to play with the PDC elite group of players.

“This event is giving me a chance to show where we stand against them. So, I don’t want to waste a moment like this. This is my chance and I want to do well.”

The World Series of Darts roadshow rolls into China this week for the second edition of the Shanghai Darts Masters, which takes place at the Pullman Hotel.

As is the norm, Michael van Gerwen is an overwhelming favourite to defend the title he won last year, when he beat James Wade 8-3 in the final.

Outside of the eight seeded players, invites were extended to veteran darting legend Paul Lim, Hong Kong’s Royden Lam, Japanese thrower Haruki Muramatsu and Korean soft tip specialist Hyun Chul Park.

Finally, hoping not to purely make up the numbers will be four local players drawn from today’s qualifying event.

We all know the strengths of the seeded players, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Korea’s darting hero Hyun Chul.

Those of you that follow soft tip darts will be very familiar with him. For many, though, Hyun Chul will not be so well known.

Hyun Chul is a major player in the world of soft tip, last year getting to the final of the Dartslive Grand Final, and as he gets ready to make his debut in the World Series of Darts tomorrow he spoke to me about his preparations for the event.

“I am practicing five hours of steel tip darts every day,” he said. “I watch many PDC games (to help with my counting) and practice what I see.”

Hyun Chul has been drawn against the sport’s most successful ever player, 16-time world champion Phil Taylor, in the draw for the first round today, an opportunity which he may not have even thought possible when he first discovered darts.

“I started to play darts when I was 27. One day, the place I used to work at got a darts machine and I played for fun with a co-worker,” he said.

“I represented Korea at the Asia Pacific Cup in 2010, and this year I’ve qualified for the Shanghai Darts Masters.”

Thank you to SungBae Choi for interpreting this interview with Hyun Chul.