Jake Hobbs won two events on the final weekend of Phase One of this year’s JDC Foundation Tour as he sealed his place on next year’s Advanced Tour.
The 15-year-old from Surrey won the first and last events of the weekend, with the other events being won by Alfie Cook and first-time winner Lucas Milligan.
Cook and Hobbs finished second and third, respectively, behind overall winner Arthur Allston on the Foundation Tour – and those three will be joined by Kaleb Gascoyne, Ethan Baines, Addison Hefferon, Callum Ryan and Junior Howard on the 2026 Advanced Tour.
Joshua Gregory and Hayden Ball both finished in the top eight but will be too old to compete on the Advanced Tour next year, while Jenson Macey finished level on points with Ryan and Howard but agonisingly missed out by one leg difference.
Event 17
Jake Hobbs won his third event of the Foundation Tour season – averaging a shade under 80 across the event as he secured a deserved title.
He dropped only two legs in his first five matches, which included averages of 89.48 and 88.41 against Kyle Davis and Addison Hefferon, respectively.
After beating Hefferon in the quarter-finals, Hobbs was a 4-2 winner against Jenson Macey in the semis, the highlight being a 15-dart break of throw to go 3-2 ahead.
Hobbs then had to win a high-quality final, coming through 5-3 against Alfie Cook, with both players producing averages above 82.
Every leg was won in seven visits or fewer, and the first break of throw came in what turned out to be the final leg, with Hobbs going out in 17 darts to seal the victory.
Cook, who went on to have an outstanding weekend, played some excellent darts on his way to the final, notably in a 3-0 quarter-final win over Declan Mainwaring which he clinched with an 82 checkout for a 15-darter.
One other notable performer was Charlie Nixon, reaching his first semi-final of the tour, having previously got as far as the quarter-final in Event 2 back in February.
Results
Final:
Jake Hobbs (Eng) 5-3 Alfie Cook (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Jake Hobbs (Eng) 4-2 Jenson Macey (Eng)
Alfie Cook (Eng) 4-3 Charlie Nixon (Eng)
Event 18
Alfie Cook followed up his run to the Event 17 final by going one step further and winning Event 18 – his second event win of the Foundation Tour season.
The 12-year-old from Essex stated his intent with an 80-plus average and 3-0 win in his opening match against Theo Vaughan – and progressed to the final without too many complications along the way.
He produced a timely 100 checkout to break throw and clinch the match against Keaton Ground in the last 16, with Ground waiting on tops to draw level, but otherwise he was largely untroubled.
A ruthless 4-0 win against Jake Shipley in the semi-final – including an 85 checkout for a 15-darter – set up a clash with Callum Ryan in the final.
Ryan, playing in his second final of the season, raced into a 2-0 lead with legs of 16 an 17, only for the in-form Cook to win three legs on the bounce. Ryan held for 3-3 but Cook held and then hit double 16 at the first time of asking to break throw and seal the title.
The highlight of Ryan’s impressive run to the final was a 3-1 win over Arthur Allston – the top player on the Foundation Tour this year – in the last 16. Ryan averaged 86.96, and produced a 12-dart break of throw (121, 123, 177, 80), before sealing the win with a 126 checkout.
Other notable performers included Liam Rowe and Shipley, reaching their first semi-finals of the season while Alex Hopkins averaged 88.41 in his last-16 win over Billy Morris.
Results
Final:
Alfie Cook (Eng) 5-3 Callum Ryan (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Alfie Cook (Eng) 4-0 Jake Shipley (Eng)
Callum Ryan (Eng) 4-2 Liam Rowe (Eng)
Event 19
Lucas Milligan produced one of the stories of the Foundation Tour season as he won Event 19 – having not previously progressed past the last 32.
The 12-year-old from Cardiff has been ever-present on the tour this season – and on the final day of action he made the huge leap to winning his first event.
He beat Alfie Cook – who else? – in the Event 19 final, as Cook continued his excellent recent run. But the Event 18 winner was unable to make it back-to-back wins as Milligan won 5-2 to celebrate his first title.
After Cook broke throw in the opening leg, Milligan won three on the spin. Cook broke again to move within a leg at 3-2, but Milligan fired back with a break and a hold to clinch the title.
Milligan had earlier come through a huge test of nerve when he broke throw in 15 darts to clinch a 3-2 quarter-final win over Joshua Machin.
For Cook, it was another event where he consistently performed at a high level, no more so than in his 3-0 last-16 win against Riley Pinhorne. Cook averaged 88.41 including a 14-dart break of throw.
Other notable performers included Jack Divall, who reached his first semi-final of the season.
Results
Final:
Lucas Milligan (Wal) 5-2 Alfie Cook (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Lucas Milligan (Wal) 4-2 Jack Divall (Eng)
Alfie Cook (Eng) 4-2 Arthur Allston (Eng)
Event 20
Jake Hobbs finished the weekend – and Phase 1 of this year’s Foundation Tour – on a high as he beat Event 19 winner Lucas Milligan to clinch the Event 20 title.
Hobbs went into overdrive from the last 16 to the semi-finals, producing three consecutive averages above 83 to underline his quality.
He had been given a scare when he trailed Harry Rawlings 2-1 in the last 64, before turning it around and not looking back.
Hobbs hit a 170 checkout in the next round against Mitchell Brightwell (Aubin Buller and Riley Emery also reeled in the big fish on the day), before averaging 83.50 in a 3-0 win over Woody Wheeler in the last 16.
He then averaged 84.72 in a 3-2 quarter-final win over Alfie Cook, before averaging 87.13 against Theo Galea in the semis. Hobbs beat Milligan 5-1 in the final to secure his fourth title of the season.
Milligan can take huge confidence into the rest of the year having reached back-to-back finals, while Galea also made a big step in the right direction by reaching his first semi-final.
Results
Final:
Jake Hobbs (Eng) 5-1 Lucas Milligan (Wal)
Semi-finals:
Jake Hobbs (Eng) 4-0 Theo Galea (Eng)
Lucas Milligan (Wal) 4-1 Liam Rowe (Eng)
Final rankings
Arthur Allston 61 points
Alfie Cook 49
Jake Hobbs 47
Kaleb Gascoyne 37
Joshua Gregory* 32
Ethan Baines 31
Hayden Ball* 30
Addison Hefferon 25
Callum Ryan 24
Junior Howard 24
*player’s age makes them ineligible to compete on 2026 Advanced Tour
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