Paul Lim | |||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Full name | Paul Lim Leong Hwa | ||||||||||||||
Nickname | The Singapore Slinger | ||||||||||||||
Born |
Singapore |
25 January 1954 ||||||||||||||
Home town |
San Bernardino, California United States |
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Darts information | |||||||||||||||
Playing darts since | 1981 | ||||||||||||||
Darts | DMC Paul Lim | ||||||||||||||
Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
Walk-on music | Gangnam Style by Psy | ||||||||||||||
Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||
BDO | 1981–1994 | ||||||||||||||
PDC | 1994– | ||||||||||||||
BDO majors - best performances | |||||||||||||||
World Ch'ship | Quarter-final: 1990 | ||||||||||||||
World Masters | Last 16: 1981, 1985, 1987, 1988 | ||||||||||||||
PDC premier events - best performances | |||||||||||||||
World Ch'ship | Last 16: 2001 | ||||||||||||||
World Matchplay | Quarter-final: 1995 | ||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Last 16: 1998 | ||||||||||||||
Desert Classic | Last 32: 2004 | ||||||||||||||
Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||
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Other achievements | |||||||||||||||
First player to achieve nine dart finish at World Championships (1990) | |||||||||||||||
Updated on 19 November 2007. |
Paul Lim Leong Hwa known simply as Paul Lim (born 25 January 1954 in Singapore) is a professional darts player. He was the first player to hit a perfect 9-dart finish during the Embassy World Darts Championship, which he achieved in 1990 during his second round match against Jack McKenna. Lim won £52,000 for his 9-darter, which was £28,000 more than Phil Taylor won for winning the tournament. John Lowe achieved the first 9-dart finish on television in a match against Keith Deller at the 1984 World Matchplay, for which Lowe won £102,000. Lim's 9-darter remained the only 9-dart game to have been achieved in either version of the world championships, until Raymond van Barneveld hit one against Jelle Klaasen in the quarter-final of the 2009 PDC World Darts Championship.
Lim represented three countries at darts. Singapore was not affiliated with the sport's governing body, the World Darts Federation (WDF), so Lim played briefly for Papua New Guinea, but settled in California and represented the United States in international competition, before also playing for his native country when they became a WDF playing nation. Lim also represented Singapore at the 2017 World Cup and beat the No. 1 seed Scotland in the first round.
He made his World Championship debut in 1982, losing a first round match to Dave Whitcombe. He failed to progress beyond the second round for the next seven years – losing to the likes of Cliff Lazarenko (twice), Bob Anderson, Mike Gregory, and John Lowe (twice). Then in 1990 he hit the headlines and jackpot as he achieved the first World Championship nine-dart finish against Jack McKenna in the second round on 9 January. The bonus prize of £52,000 was more than eventual tournament winner Phil Taylor claimed for becoming world champion. It was the only year that Lim managed to reach the quarter-finals of the event, losing again to Lazarenko.