Thirteen players tasted Foundation Tour event wins over the weekend, with three of them – Louis Jones (England North), Alfie Yarrow (England South) and Scott Doyle (Ireland) – winning two events.
As the tour heats up, Jones was joined in the winner’s circle by Ozzy Ayers and Max Daly, while Yarrow was accompanied by Joshua Russell and Henry Povey.
In Ireland, Charlie Maloney and Gavin Murphy also triumphed, while the four winners in Belgium were Wannes Van Heck, Ruben Baalmans, Quettier Yanis and Oden Ollevier.
ENGLAND SOUTH
Joshua Russell maintained his record of having won an event on every Foundation Tour weekend this season to build a seven-point lead at the top of the rankings in England South.
The Welshman beat Mason Dower 5-4 in the Event 14 final on Saturday afternoon, winning the event the hard way by coming through deciding legs in the quarters, semis and final.
Russell breezed through his first four matches, dropping only two legs, before beating Theo Galea 3-2 in the quarters, with a 120 finish to go 2-1 up and an 84 checkout to win the game.
In the semis he beat Stan Blower 4-3, coming back from 2-1 down, and he led 4-2 in the final before Dower fought back to force a deciding leg.
Alfie Yarrow has only played two of the four weekends on the tour – but he raced up to fifth in the rankings after winning Events 13 and 15.
Yarrow beat Riley Milligan 5-3 in the Event 13 final, with the highlight being a brilliant 11-darter in the third leg (140, 140, 134, 87), before closing the match out by clearing 60 at the first time of asking.
He had earlier beaten Jack Bellingham 4-3 in the semis, keeping his cool to take out 81 after Bellingham had forced a deciding leg with a 13-darter.
Yarrow beat CJ Everrit 5-4 in the Event 15 final, coming back from 4-0 down to complete a stunning victory.
Everrit appeared on his way to an incredible first title, playing in his first weekend of the tour, as he raced to within one leg of the victory. But Yarrow held to prolong the match, then broke with Everrit still on 191. Another hold followed, before a 17-dart break forced a deciding leg, which Yarrow won with a 15-darter, taking out 126 to cap a spectacular recovery.
He had also shown character to come through his semi-final, beating Jack Powell 4-3. Yarrow had led 3-1 before Powell mounted a comeback – but he sealed the win with a break of throw.
The other event winner was Henry Povey, who had not previously got past the quarter-finals this season. He beat Logan Neil Symons 5-3 in the Event 16 final, with the turning point coming when he broke throw with an 86 checkout in the sixth leg for a 4-2 lead. Povey had earlier averaged 86.82 in his 4-2 semi-final win over Ethan Parry.
RESULTS
Event 13
Final:
Alfie Yarrow (Eng) 5-3 Riley Milligan (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Alfie Yarrow (Eng) 4-3 Jack Bellingham (Eng)
Riley Milligan (Eng) 4-3 Woody Wheeler (Eng)
Event 14
Final:
Joshua Russell (Wal) 5-4 Mason Dower (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Joshua Russell (Wal) 4-3 Stan Blower (Eng)
Mason Dower (Eng) 4-3 Alfie Yarrow (Eng)
Event 15:
Final:
Alfie Yarrow (Eng) 5-4 CJ Everrit (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Alfie Yarrow (Eng) 4-3 Jack Powell (Wal)
CJ Everrit (Eng) 4-1 Mitchell Atkins (Eng)
Event 16:
Final:
Henry Povey (Eng) 5-3 Logan Neil Symons (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Henry Povey (Eng) 4-2 Ethan Parry (Wal)
Logan Neil Symons (Eng) 4-3 Woody Wheeler (Eng)
ENGLAND NORTH
Louis Jones picked up where he left off on the previous weekend of Foundation Tour action, winning two more events to take a three-point lead at the top of the rankings.
Jones had won the final two events last time out – and won the first and last this time to make it five event wins on the tour this year.
He beat Thomas Burns 5-4 in the Event 13 final, fighting back from 4-3 down by holding throw with an 86 checkout and then breaking in the deciding leg.
Jones had earlier beaten Tom Phillips 4-0 in the semis, after coming through back-to-back deciding legs against Kye Courtney and Ozzy Ayers in the quarters and last 16.
Jones also won Event 16, beating Ben Lundstrom 5-0 in the final, and dropping only three legs in the entire event. In the final, he took out 88 and 100 in the opening two legs to set tone, before sealing the win with a 65 checkout.
Ayers won Event 14 on Saturday, beating Mason Hale 5-2 in the final for his second title of the season. He is three points behind Jones in second place after four weekends of action.
Ayers was excellent throughout the event, averaging 96.04 in his 3-2 quarter-final win over Jones, winning with legs of 16, 14 and 15 darts.
The other event winner was Max Daly, who beat Jude Clarke 5-2 in the Event 15 final. He played some outstanding darts during the event, including a 92.02 average against Max Harris in the early rounds. Clarke – who is third in the table – has now reached a final on every weekend of the tour, winning two and losing the other two.
RESULTS
Event 13
Final:
Louis Jones (Eng) 5-4 Thomas Burns (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Louis Jones (Eng) 4-0 Tom Phillips (Eng)
Thomas Burns (Eng) 4-3 Archie Chippendale (Eng)
Event 14
Final:
Ozzy Ayers (Eng) 5-2 Mason Hale (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Ozzy Ayers (Eng) 4-1 Jack Price (Wal)
Mason Hale (Eng) 4-1 Thomas Burns (Eng)
Event 15:
Final:
Max Daly (Eng) 5-2 Jude Clarke (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Max Daly (Eng) 4-0 Alfie Hill (Eng)
Jude Clarke (Eng) 4-2 Daniel Halliday (Eng)
Event 16:
Final:
Louis Jones (Eng) 5-0 Ben Lundstrom (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Louis Jones (Eng) 4-0 Mason Hale (Eng)
Ben Lundstrom (Eng) 4-3 Elijah Bale (Eng)
BELGIUM
Quettier Yanis holds a three-point lead at the top of the rankings in Belgium after he was one of four different event winners over the weekend.
He beat Ruben Baalmans 5-0 in the Event 15 to claim his second win of the season and also reached a final and two semi-finals. The consistent Belgian has only twice in 16 events this season failed to reach the quarter-finals.
Yanis won Event 15 without dropping a single leg, beating Ilio Van Dooren 4-0, Michael Descheemaker 4-0, Thomas De Roover 4-0 and Baalmans 5-0. His best performance came against Descheemaker in the quarters, where he averaged 89.73.
Wannes Van Heck won the opening event of the weekend, beating Mattis Verschaeve 5-1 in the final, with his average not dropping below 80 throughout the event.
His toughest test came in the semi-final against Yanis, in which he eked out a 4-3 victory from 3-2 down. All seven legs in the contest were won in six visits or fewer, with Van Heck breaking throw to draw level at 3-3 with an 80 checkout and then sealing the win on his throw.
In the final, Van Heck threw three 100-plus checkouts (108, 124 and a match-clinching 107) as he enjoyed a dominant win over Verschaeve.
Baalmans won Event 14 to claim his fourth event win of the season, beating Van Heck 5-1 in the final after he had fought back from 3-1 down to beat Scott Demuysere 4-3 in the semis.
The Event 16 winner was Oden Ollevier, who produced a magnificent performance in the final to beat overall leader Yanis 5-1. After a slightly scrappy start to the contest, Ollevier won the final three legs in 15, 17 and 16 darts.
He was a worthy winner, dropping only four legs throughout the event and beating Event 14 winner Baalmans 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
RESULTS
Event 13
Final:
Wannes Van Heck (Bel) 5-1 Mattis Verschaeve (Bel)
Semi-finals:
Wannes Van Heck (Bel) 4-3 Quettier Yanis (Bel)
Mattis Verschaeve (Bel) 4-1 Daan Toxopeus (Ned)
Event 14
Final:
Ruben Baalmans (Ned) 5-1 Wannes Van Heck (Bel)
Semi-finals:
Ruben Baalmans (Ned) 4-3 Scott Demuysere (Bel)
Wannes Van Heck (Bel) 4-3 Quettier Yanis (Bel)
Event 15:
Final:
Quettier Yanis (Bel) 5-0 Ruben Baalmans (Ned)
Semi-finals:
Quettier Yanis (Bel) 4-0 Thomas De Roover (Bel)
Ruben Baalmans (Ned) 4-2 Luka Kenis (Bel)
Event 16:
Final:
Oden Ollevier (Bel) 5-1 Quettier Yanis (Bel)
Semi-finals:
Oden Ollevier (Bel) 4-1 Lennert Van De Beek (Bel)
Quettier Yanis (Bel) 4-2 Niel Verpoorten (Bel)
IRELAND
Scott Doyle picked up two event wins to cut the gap on runaway leader Charlie O’Connor to six points.
O’Connor, who won two events last time out, reached two quarter-finals over the weekend but could not progress further, as Doyle collected his second and third event wins of the year.
He beat Daniel Holohan 5-0 in the Event 13 final as he got the weekend off to a flying start, having stated his intent when averaging 85.08 in a 3-0 win over Charlie Daly in his opening match.
Doyle bookended the weekend by winning Event 16 on Sunday afternoon, beating Sean Hutchinson 5-1 in the final. After Hutchinson won the opening leg with a 14-darter, Doyle took control to end the weekend as he started it – on a high.
Charlie Maloney, playing his first weekend of the tour, won Event 14, beating Charlie Doherty 5-3 in the final. Maloney trailed 2-0 but found his feet to celebrate his first win in only his second event of the tour season.
Maloney passed a huge test in the quarter-finals when he beat overall leader O’Connor 3-1, winning the opening two legs with O’Connor waiting on a double, and then holding throw in the fourth leg to win.
Event 15 was won by Gavin Murphy, who beat Cillian Grace 5-1 in the final for his second event win of the season. Having beaten Event 13 and 16 winner Doyle 3-1 in the quarters, Murphy saw off Mikey Conway 4-1 in the semis, before wrapping up the title against Grace, with a 99 checkout in the fourth leg the highlight.
RESULTS
Event 13
Final:
Scott Doyle (Ire) 5-0 Daniel Holohan (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Scott Doyle (Ire) 4-2 Charlie Doherty (Ire)
Daniel Holohan (Ire) 4-3 Mikey Conway (Ire)
Event 14
Final:
Charlie Maloney (Ire) 5-3 Charlie Doherty (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Charlie Maloney (Ire) 4-1 Luke Maher (Ire)
Charlie Doherty (Ire) 4-2 Tyler O’Connor (Ire)
Event 15:
Final:
Gavin Murphy (Ire) 5-1 Cillian Grace (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Gavin Murphy (Ire) 4-1 Mikey Conway (Ire)
Cillian Grace (Ire) 4-3 Jack Caulfield (Ire)
Event 16:
Final:
Scott Doyle (Ire) 5-1 Sean Hutchinson (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Scott Doyle (Ire) 4-1 Tyler O’Connor (Ire)
Sean Hutchinson (Ire) 4-3 Tom Smith (Ire)
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