News

ALAN LJUBIC will make his William Hill World Darts Championship debut in December after winning the Eastern Europe Qualifier.

The Croatian ace defeated Poland's Krzysztof Kciuk 6-2 in the final of the knockout in Budapest to secure his first televised appearance at Alexandra Palace.

Ljubic was a narrow 6-5 winner over Roman Benecky and Boris Krcmar in his opening two games before seeing off Adrian Michna and Nandor Bezzeg with 6-4 scorelines to reach the semi-finals.

There, he defeated Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 before denying Kciuk a second World Championship appearance - following his 2010 qualification - as he claimed a 6-2 triumph.

Ljubic has previously competed twice in PDC European Tour qualifiers this year, losing out on both occasions to Krzysztof Ratajski, and also competes in Dartslive Soft-Tip events.

Kcuik had reached the final with an impressive 6-5 semi-final defeat of his former PDC World Cup of Darts team-mate Ratajski, who has impressed on the European Tour this year before winning the recent BDO World Masters.

The coming weeks will also see further qualifying events held across Europe, with the Southern Europe Qualifier in Avila on October 21, the German Qualifier on November 18 and the Central Europe Qualifier on November 19. For entry details, visit www.pdc-europe.tv.

2017/2018 William Hill World Darts Championship
Eastern Europe Qualifier
Last 16
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-1 Marjan Sket
Janos Vegsö 6-1 Vivien Czipo
Alan Ljubic 6-3 Adrian Michna
Nandor Bezzeg 6-4 Jozsef Rucska
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Albert Nemeth
Pero Ljubic 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Frantisek Humpula 6-1 Pal Szekely
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-2 Gabor Takacs

Quarter-Finals
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-4 Janos Vegsö
Alan Ljubic 6-3 Nandor Bezzeg
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Pero Ljubic
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-3 Frantisek Humpula

Semi-Finals
Alan Ljubic 6-4 Benjamin Pratnemer
Krzysztof Kciuk 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski

Final
Alan Ljubic 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk