Paige Pauling wins girls’ title at 2024 WDF World Championship easing past Sophie McKinlay

Paige Pauling is the 2024 girls champion WDF World Championships defeat Sophia McKinlay She won Sunday’s final 2-0 and this is her 17th WDF youth title this year.

The 16-year-old defeated McKinlay in straight sets, starting today’s final at Lake and the Scot, who was defeated, ironically returned to play in the women’s final after two games.

But it was top seed Pauling, who, like McKinlay, is touted as a future talent to become a world champion. The latter will get another chance, but will not be favored in the fight against Beau Greaves, who is looking for three titles in a row.

Pauling started the game looking to continue, shooting 16 shots, hitting 140, 121 and a double 20 early, then consolidating on double 10s to make it 2-0. McKInlay held the shot, but Pauling came back to seal the set, despite initially missing out on chances for a more comfortable victory.

McKinlay broke through to start the second set at 80 points after Pauling missed 115 points, but he bounced back when McKinlay rejected opportunities and held the shot from there. It was a great finish for Pauling, who scored 80 points.

She went to scores of 100, 100, 41, 99, and then at 80 point checkout, limited to just 170 at McKinlay’s, meaning Pauling likely would have won the tournament even if she hadn’t made 80.

But of course she wasn’t going to take that risk against a player who would be playing in the women’s final herself and had a knack for finding the late-game performance that would turn things around. Pauling, who is a multiple world champion, now has a world championship to add to her resume as she now likely plans to join the senior ranks in the coming years.