Watching one of your children play a semi-final on the big JDC stage must be nerve-wracking enough – now try to put yourself in the shoes of Simon and Debbie Cook.
In Dublin earlier this month, their sons Lewis and Alfie met in the JDC European Open Event 4 semi-final. Not only that, both players and their parents knew that whichever brother won the semi-final would be crowned the European Open champion for 2025.
After Lewis won a scrappy opening leg against the darts, Alfie responded with a 14-dart break to draw level. From there, Lewis – the older brother at 15 – reeled off three quick legs to win the bragging rights, the semi-final, and the overall title.
He pipped his 12-year-old brother to glory by one point, having also beaten him in the Event 3 final earlier in the day.
The finest of margins separated these two talented darting brothers – and for their parents, it was not the easiest watch!
“The boys playing each other has become normal and they always seem to play well against each other and bring out their best game,” said Debbie. “Their dad loves it – but me, not so much!
“It was stressful watching them in Dublin as the boy who won the semi-final would be the European champion.”
With Lewis taking the honours, did that make for a tense trip back to Suffolk?
“They are very supportive of each other,” said Debbie. “Don’t get me wrong, they do have friendly banter, but that trip home was good because they were so proud of each other.”
The brothers play at the Sudbury Youth Elite 1 Darts Academy and compete for their home county of Suffolk. They have followed in the footsteps of their father, who played super league and county darts for Essex.
“We used to take them to watch the darts and we watched it a lot on the telly,” said Debbie. “Once they could stand, they had magnetic dart boards and that’s when it all started.
“We realised that they both had potential at a young age. But once they could give their dad a good game and got consistent at throwing straight darts, we knew they had a talent.
“It is great to see how well both the boys are doing. We have done a lot of travelling this year already and we are very thankful to the sponsor BrackAdams Eco Packaging – we couldn’t do it all without sponsorship and are always on the look-out for extra sponsors.”
On the Dublin semi-final, Lewis said: “I was nervous as the last few times he has beaten me, so it was good to stop the rot and beat him.”
Alfie added: “I love playing my brother as I know his game very well and it is always a good game.”
But who is the better player? That depends on which brother you ask.
While Lewis humbly says “it depends on the day”, his younger brother has a more defiant view on the subject. “Me!” he said.
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