Jim Moston and John Brown will be flying the flag for the Junior Darts Corporation at the PDC World Youth Championship in Wigan this weekend.
Moston, from Stoke-on-Trent, qualified for the last 64 at the Robin Park Arena, Sports and Tennis Centre by virtue of winning the inaugural European Darts Championship last month, defeating Justin Van Tergouw of the Netherlands 5-4 in a thrilling final.
He will be joined in Wigan by fellow 16-year-old Brown from Bristol, who qualified for the World Youth Championship by finishing top of the JDC Order of Merit.
The last 64 will play down to the semi-finals this Sunday, with the final being televised live on ITV4 on Sunday, November 27, on stage during the Cash Converters Players Championship Finals at the Butlins Minehead resort.
Qualifiers for the PDC World Youth Championship – which is for players aged 16 to 23 – include last year’s champion, Max Hopp, plus Aden Kirk, Rowby-John Rodriguez and Keegan Brown.
Jim Moston
John Brown
Benito van de Pas had qualified but opted instead to participate in this weekend’s European Tour event in Germany.
Steve Brown, chairman of the JDC, said: “We started the JDC all-star scheme this year – and both of those who have qualified are JDC all-stars, so it shows that the scheme works.
“Jim came through against the player who was probably the heavy favourite to win the JDC European Championship recently, while John has been very consistent over the past couple of years, which has been reflected in his results and his position in the Order of Merit.
“The standard of competition will be incredibly high this weekend – but it is going to be a fantastic learning curve for both players, potentially coming up against those with experience of playing in the PDC majors.”
Everyone at the JDC would like to wish both Jim and John the very best for this weekend’s competition – and we congratulate them on their achievements in getting this far.