ENGLAND’S Jack Howarth won back-to-back events – as he did on the previous weekend of JDC Foundation Tour action in Coventry – to put himself within three points of overall leader Mitchell Lawrie at the halfway point.
The 17-year-old from Sunderland had opened the previous weekend with successive event wins – and he was at the double again, beating Cori Wiltshire 5-3 in the first final and Lawrie by the same scoreline in the second.
This was despite him injuring a finger on his throwing hand shortly before the semi-final in the second event of the day, showing real heart to come through and deny Scotland’s Lawrie a fifth title of the 2024 Tour.
The two players now hold a clear lead over the rest of the field, with Lawrie on 44 points, Howarth 41 and third-placed Owen Bryceland on 22. Events 11 and 12 take place in Coventry on Sunday.
EVENT 9 SUMMARY
After his back-to-back heroics last time out, Howarth made it three wins from nine events with victory over Wiltshire in the first final of the day.
The first two legs went with throw before Wiltshire broke for a 2-1 lead. Howarth won two on the spin to regain the initiative, before Wiltshire levelled at 3-3.
Howarth held for a 4-3 lead and then produced his best leg of the match – a 14-darter including a 180 and 145 – to claim the title.
Wiltshire had previously reached two semi-finals on this year’s Tour – and he went one better by beating Lewis Mayes 4-1 to set up his clash with Howarth in the showpiece.
Mayes held throw in the first leg before Wiltshire reeled off four legs on the spin, including two 140s en route to an 18-darter to draw level in the contest.
Howarth saw off Davie Duval 4-1 in his semi, kicking off with a 14-darter and remaining in control throughout bar a scrappy third leg.
The key to Howarth’s victory was his consistency throughout the event. He averaged 83.96 in a thrilling 3-2 quarter-final win over Scotland’s Lawrie, taking out 112 to clinch the match, and he did not throw an average below 73 all day, negotiating his first three matches with an 81.04 and two averages of 86.71.
Wiltshire was excellent throughout, too, dropping only one leg in five matches at the start of the event as he averaged 85.08 in a 3-0 last-16 win over Joshua Machin, reaching his third semi-final and first final of the 2024 Tour.
Paige Pauling was another impressive performer, reaching the quarter-final on her first Tour appearance of the year, having opened the event with an 85.08 average in a 3-0 win over Charlie Voorhees before eventually bowing out with a 3-2 defeat against Duval.
Quarter-finals:
Davie Duval (Eng) 3-2 Paige Pauling (Eng)
Jack Howarth (Eng) 3-2 Mitchell Lawrie (Sco)
Cori Wiltshire (Eng) 3-0 Sidney Lloyd (Eng)
Lewis Mayes (Eng) 3-1 Owen Bryceland (Sco)
Semi-finals:
Jack Howarth (Eng) 4-1 Davie Duval (Eng)
Cori Wiltshire (Eng) 4-1 Lewis Mayes (Eng
Final:
Jack Howarth (Eng) 5-3 Cori Wiltshire (Eng)
EVENT 10 SUMMARY
Howarth was straight back at it in the second event of the day, battling his way through to a fitting final against Lawrie as the players ranked one and two on the Tour went head to head.
Lawrie won four of the first seven events of the Tour – and Howarth has now won four of the last six after a 5-3 win in the final.
Howarth stated his intentions by breaking the Lawrie throw in the first leg of the final, then holding for a 2-0 lead. Lawrie held for 2-1 then broke in 15 darts to draw level, but Howarth – nursing his injured finger – broke in 16 and then held for a 4-2 lead. Lawrie held but Howarth closed out the match after kicking off the eighth leg with scores of 131 and 140 inside his first three visits.
The two dominant players on the Tour so far this year had come through their semi-finals with relative comfort, Lawrie a 4-1 victor against Machin, and Howarth a 4-0 winner against Bryceland, with his highlight being a 97 checkout in the third leg.
The highest average of the event was produced by Scotland’s Bryceland, who hit a 14-darter en route to an 87 average in his 3-1 quarter-final win against Drake Porter.
Lawrie, for his part, produced another outstanding performance during the event. He saw off two of the previous event’s semi-finalists in Duval and Wiltshire en route to a 3-1 quarter-final win over Jackson King and has a slight advantage at the midway point of a thrilling Foundation Tour season.
But once again Howarth was Mr Consistent, stepping up his game when he needed to – including an 86.82 average in his first-round clash with Pauling – to set up a potentially tantalising battle with Lawrie for top spot in the rankings over the next ten events.
Quarter-finals:
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 3-1 Jackson King (Eng)
Joshua Machin (Eng) 3-1 Jayden Fitzgerald (Ire)
Owen Bryceland (Sco) 3-1 Drake Porter (Eng)
Jack Howarth (Eng) 3-1 Joseph Flenley (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 4-1 Joshua Machin (Eng)
Jack Howarth (Eng) 4-0 Owen Bryceland (Sco)
Final:
Jack Howarth (Eng) 5-3 Mitchell Lawrie (Sco)
