February marks the beginning of the Modus UK Junior Darts tour 2018.
This year in total, there will be 8 qualifying events for junior players aged between 10 and 18 years old to book a place in the WDS Junior World Darts Championship finals in December. The actual final of this event will take place on stage at the Alexandra Palace London during the William Hill World Darts Championship.
Each winner of any of the 8 events will automatically qualify for the finals, however the tour also offers an order of merit system that will give the opportunity for a further 8 players to qualify for the world finals.
In addition the tour also offers the opportunity for the event winners to become part of the JDC All-star hall of fame, headed up by JDC Director Michael Van Gerwen. If a player is inducted into the all-star programme by winning an event, they will be invited to join a Modus Sports Management event and play on stage with Michael and fellow professionals.
The tour also offers a PDPA Scholarship order of merit program for players over 16 to qualify for 3 spots on the 2019 PDC Development tour. Players will be able to play on the tour for free with their scholarship.
The tour begins at the George Albert Hotel Evershot near Dorchester, a chosen venue to start the tour for the last 3 years. The next 7 events will see the tour go to Worcester, Derby, Essex, Chorlton, Exeter, Solihull and finally finishing in Wolverhampton in November ahead of the world finals.
Across the tour and the world finals an increase in the prize money for 2018 now totals a £7,000 prize pot.
JDC Chairman Steve Brown commented:
This year we have increased the opportunities for more young players to have a chance to play in the world finals and make a name for themselves in 2018. With the inclusion of the 8 players from our academy order of merit, we will have 24 places available in December. Including the all-star program working with Michael, prize money, world qualification and PDPA scholarships up for grabs it’s going to be a great tour for our junior players