PAIGE Pauling completed back-to-back Girls Series title wins as she secured the honours by winning both events on the final weekend of action in Coventry.
The 17-year-old from England repeated her 2024 success – and did so by winning seven of the eight events in which she appeared, topping the table by six points despite missing two events.
With Pauling’s closest pursuer, Rebecca Allen, not participating at the weekend, her title defence looked nailed-on – but she still had to produce the goods to get over the line.
And she did that in style, beating Lola Wheeler 4-0 in the Event 9 final, and backing that up with the same scoreline against Natalie Baxter in the Event 10 final.
EVENT 9
Paige Pauling took a big step toward defending her Girls Series title when she won Event 9 on Saturday, beating Lola Wheeler 4-0 in the final.
Pauling had suffered a rare defeat in the round-robin stage, losing 2-0 to Taylor Field, who averaged north of 71 and produced a 70 checkout for a victory she will remember for a long time.
But Pauling was perfect for the rest of the day, beating Wheeler, Lucy Shepherd, Brooke Warren and Macy Gibbons, all by a scoreline of 2-0.
She then beat Emily Purse 3-0 in the last 16, before another 3-0 victory against Caprice Hingston in the quarter-finals.
Yazmine Ruck-Havard put up a good fight in the semi-finals, matching Pauling through the first four legs – all holds – before the defending champion secured a 3-2 win by taking out 40.
The final ended with a 4-0 win for Pauling, beating Wheeler, who deserves immense credit for reaching her first final of the series.
RESULTS
Final:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 4-0 Lola Wheeler (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 3-2 Yazmine Ruck-Havard (Wal)
Lola Wheeler (Eng) 3-1 Taylor Field (Eng)
EVENT 10
Paige Pauling clinched her second Girls Series title in a row as she went through Event 10 unbeaten, winning all five round-robin games before negotiating the knockout rounds to lift the trophy again.
She opened the event with five straight round-robin victories, beating Harley Glover, Lucy Shepherd, Lily Wheeler, Natalie Baxter and Macy Gibbons, only dropping a leg against Shepherd.
She won 3-0 against Ivy Bradford-Shaw in the last 16, averaging 79.11 including a 15-dart leg she sealed with a 108 checkout. Next up was another 3-0 win, against Lexi-Jayne Rooksby in the quarter-finals, before an 83 average against the in-form Yazmine Ruck-Havard in a 3-0 semi-final win.
Pauling won all three legs in seven visits or fewer, hitting five ton-plus scores in the process including a 180.
With the title already in the bag, she put the icing on the cake with a 4-0 win against Natalie Baxter, a first-time finalist who played some excellent darts to get there. Pauling’s victory in the final included an 82 checkout as she underlined her status as the best girl currently playing on the junior circuit.
RESULTS
Final:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 4-0 Natalie Baxter (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 3-0 Yazmine Ruck-Havard (Wal)
Natalie Baxter (Eng) 3-0 Lola Wheeler (Eng)
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