Mitchell Lawrie became the first Scottish player to win an Advanced Tour event as he became the fourth different player to win over the weekend – producing a stunning 104 average in the final.
The 14-year-old followed Jack Nankervis, Lex Paeshuyse and Lewis Cook in winning events in Coventry on another fiercely contested weekend of Advanced Tour darts.
Spare a thought for Tergel Khurelkhuu, after he reached three finals across the weekend – finishing runner-up in all three events.
Tergel – who hit a 10-darter in his first leg of the weekend – was unable to make it third time lucky in the Event 16 final on Sunday afternoon as Lawrie found the perfect time to produce the highest average of the weekend – 104.44.
Event 13
Jack Nankervis won the first event of the weekend, and his third Advanced Tour event of the season, when he beat Tergel Khurelkhuu 6-1 in the final.
The 14-year-old set the tone for an excellent series of performances when he beat Archie Self 4-0 in the opening round, averaging 87, before beating Jack Johnson 4-1 and Jack Courtney by the same scoreline.
In the semi-final, he beat world champion Lex Paeshuyse 5-4 in a thrilling contest, leading for the first and only time in the match when he hit the match-winning double 10 to provide the only break of throw in the match.
Despite the tense nature of the semi-final, Nankervis had plenty left in the tank when he faced Tergel in the final. He averaged 91.86 and showed his quality throughout, the highlight being back-to-back legs of 14 and 13.
Tergel produced some outstanding darts during the event, including an average of 98.36 in his 5-2 semi-final win over Jayden Walker. Both players contributed to a high-quality contest, with every leg being won in 16 darts or fewer.
The first four legs went against throw, with Tergel trailing 2-1 at one point, before playing some excellent darts to seal his path to the final.
RESULTS
Final:
Jack Nankervis (Eng) 6-1 Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng)
Semi-finals:
Jack Nankervis (Eng) 5-4 Lex Paeshuyse (Bel)
Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng) 5-2 Jayden Walker (Eng)
Event 14
World champion Lex Paeshuyse won the Event 14 title after beating Mitchell Lawrie in an 11-leg thriller in the final.
The Belgian was a deserving winner of the event, kicking off with a 95.43 average in a 4-0 win over Ben Townley, and later averaging 99 in a 5-1 semi-final victory against Joseph Westby.
In the final, Paeshuyse led 3-0 before Lawrie fought back to draw level at 4-4, then held throw twice to get over the line for his third event win of the Advanced Tour season.
His performance of the event came in the semi-final, beating Westby with legs of 18, 14, 11, 14 and 15, sealing an emphatic victory with a 130 checkout.
Beaten finalist Lawrie was excellent throughout the event, having to twice come through last-leg deciders as he beat Leo Howard 4-3 and Jack Johnson 5-4 in the latter stages.
In a match Johnson won’t want to think about again, Lawrie trailed 4-0 in the semi-final and appeared on his way out of the event, before rallying and reeling off five legs in a row to advance, the highlight being a 144 checkout to draw level at 4-4 with Johnson waiting on 35.
RESULTS
Final:
Lex Paeshuyse (Bel) 6-5 Mitchell Lawrie (Sco)
Semi-finals:
Lex Paeshuyse (Bel) 5-1 Joseph Westby (Eng)
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 5-4 Jack Johnson (Eng)
Event 15
Lewis Cook won the Event 15 title, beating Tergel Khurelkhuu in the final to secure his first event win of the Advanced Tour season.
The 15-year-old had not previously got past the semi-final stage – but he beat Rhys Butler, Joseph Westby, Lex Paeshuyse and Jayden Walker on his way to the final, where he defeated Tergel 6-4.
His first two games could not have been more different from his next two, beating Butler and Westby 4-0, before edging last-leg deciders against Paeshuyse and Walker.
In a quarter-final of high quality, Cook averaged 90.45 as he beat Paeshuyse 4-3, with the Belgian himself averaging 85.70. Paeshuyse took out 164 and then held with a 72 checkout to take a 3-2 lead, but Cook held in 13 darts and then broke throw in 16 to advance to the semis.
Once there, he had to fight back from 3-0 down to beat Walker, and then raced into a 3-0 lead of his own against Tergel in the final. The Mongolian fought back to draw level at 3-3, and it was 4-4 before Cook held throw with a brilliant 12-darter (140, 123, 140, 98) and then broke in 15 darts to clinch the title.
For Tergel, who had a remarkable weekend of reaching three finals, this was the closest he got to tasting victory – and he was again superb throughout the event.
RESULTS
Final:
Lewis Cook (Eng) 6-4 Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng)
Semi-finals:
Lewis Cook (Eng) 5-4 Jayden Walker (Eng)
Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng) 5-3 Jack Johnson (Eng)
Event 16
Mitchell Lawrie sealed the Event 16 title to win his first Advanced Tour event in the process – and did it in some style, averaging 104.44 in his 6-2 win against Tergel Khurelkhuu in the final.
For Tergel, it was the third time in four events over the weekend that he was the runner-up – an incredible level of consistency that was not quite capped with an event win. However, he should take enormous encouragement from the level of darts he produced.
For 14-year-old Lawrie, it was a superb end to the weekend, having previously finished runner-up in the one event Tergel didn’t, on Saturday afternoon.
He had to dig deep to stay in the event early on, winning two of his first three matches 4-3, against Jayden Walker and Lee Bradshaw.
He then beat Archie Self 5-1 in the semi-final, before producing the outstanding performance of the weekend.
He won in his legs in visits of 14, 12, 19, 14, 13 and 16, racing into a 5-0 lead, after kicking off with checkouts of 74 and 84. Tergel won two legs in visits of 14 and 12 to briefly threaten a comeback, before Lawrie got the job done on double 16.
Tergel may have come agonisingly close to a second event win of the season – but he has closed the gap on leader Ryan Branley, after he had a rare weekend where he was unable to advance past the quarter-final stage.
RESULTS
Final:
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 6-2 Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng)
Semi-finals:
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 5-1 Archie Self (Eng)
Tergel Khurelkhuu (Mng) 5-2 Jack Nankervis (Eng)
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