THE UK Open is braced for a JDC invasion on Friday afternoon with five former junior world champions in action at the PDC major – and a sixth to follow in the evening.
Joshua Richardson (JDC world champion 2015), Rusty Jake Rodriguez (2017), Jurjen van der Velde (2018), Keane Barry (2019) and Bradley Roes (2020) will all enter the televised tournament in the first session, with the 2022 and 2023 champion Luke Littler to follow in the fourth round.
In addition to the six JDC world champions, there will be an array of former JDC stars in action across the eight stages in Minehead, including former world finalists Leighton Bennett, Owen Roelofs, Harry Gregory and Adam Gawlas, plus former JDC European champion Bradley Brooks.
Jenson Walker, a JDC England international who will coach the team in 2024, is another to qualify – and he is guaranteed to make his debut on the main stage when he faces Sebastian Bialecki in the first round.
Van der Velde will also play on the main stage at Butlins when he faces Jeffrey de Zwaan, while Brooks, Rodriguez and Gregory will also play in the main arena if they progress that far.
The strong JDC representation at the £600,000 major underlines the organisation's burgeoning role in preparing young players for the biggest stages in darts.
JDC founder and chairman Steve Brown said: “One of the aims of the JDC has always been to prepare players for when the time comes to step onto the biggest stages in darts.
“The sheer number of former world champions, world finalists, Advanced Tour winners and other players who have played in the JDC is wonderful to see – and I’m looking forward to watching as many of them as possible this weekend.”
THE UK OPEN WILL BE BROADCAST ON ITV OVER THE WEEKEND OF 1ST -3RD OF MARCH
Full event details via our partners at the PDC
https://www.pdc.tv/tournament/ladbrokes-uk-open-2
ARTICLE - STEVE COTTON
