Mitchell Lawrie and Jack Howarth shared the Foundation Tour honours by winning one event apiece as their battle for top spot on the overall rankings intensified in Coventry.
Scotland’s Lawrie was first out of the blocks, bagging the Event 13 title with a 5-3 win over Cori Wiltshire in the final.
Howarth, a double winner on the last Foundation Tour weekend, responded by claiming the Event 14 crown with a 5-1 win over Ieuan King in the decider.
After 14 events of 20, Scotland’s Lawrie and England’s Howarth have won 10 events between – five each – and Lawrie (57) leads Howarth (54) by three points at the top of the rankings, with Wiltshire in third on 35.
EVENT 13 SUMMARY
Lawrie went into the fourth weekend of Foundation Tour action with four event wins – but had not tasted victory since Event 7 in March.
The 13-year-old quickly ended that wait by producing some outstanding darts throughout Event 13, not dropping a leg until the final and producing a sensational 107.36 average in his last-16 win against Joseph Flenley.
After easing past Jacob Todd and Joshua Chapman in the opening two rounds, Lawrie went up a gear as he beat Oliver Dunham 3-0 with an 85.08 average in the last 32, with a 14-darter in the second leg.
His best performance of the day came in the last 16, when he surpassed the brilliant 104.86 average thrown by compatriot Owen Bryceland last time out.
Lawrie stated his intentions with a stunning 11-darter in the opening leg, throwing 180, 140 and 134 to leave 47, which he took at the first time of asking. He followed it up with a 17-darter, which included a 140 and 139, and wrapped things up with a 14-dart leg to seal one of the outstanding performances seen in the JDC.
Coming off the high of that performance, he was not at his best in the quarter-finals – but still won 3-0 against Jake Shipley, before a 4-0 win against Kaleb Gascoyne in the semis, sealing his place in the final with a 95 checkout.
Lawrie had lost his previous two Foundation Tour finals – but he snapped that streak with an impressive display in a competitive final against Wiltshire.
He averaged 82.64 in the decider, opening with a 16-dart break of throw and then holding for a 2-0 lead. Wiltshire held in the third leg, before Lawrie extended his two-leg lead at 3-1.
Wiltshire then produced a 15-darter – including his first 180 of the contest – and followed it with a break to draw level at 3-3.
But there were no signs of any nerves from Lawrie, who moved back in front with another 11-darter, including three successive 140s, and he clinched the win on his own throw in the next leg.
Plenty of credit should go to all of the quarter-finalists, with Gascoyne and Ben Gamble reaching their first semi-finals of the 2024 Foundation Tour and Lennon Wharf reaching the quarters on his debut.
Quarter-finals:
Cori Wiltshire (Eng) 3-2 Zach Godber (Eng)
Ben Gamble (Eng) 3-2 Lennon Wharf (Eng)
Kaleb Gascoyne (Eng) 3-1 Lewis Cook (Eng)
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 3-0 Jake Shipley (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Cori Wiltshire (Eng) 4-2 Ben Gamble (Eng)
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 4-0 Kaleb Gascoyne (Eng)
Final:
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 5-3 Cory Wiltshire (Eng)
EVENT 14 SUMMARY
The tussle between Lawrie and Howarth at the top of the rankings has had a whiff of “anything you can do…” throughout the Foundation Tour campaign – and Howarth duly followed Lawrie’s event win with one of his own.
The 17-year-old from Sunderland is (much like his rival for top spot) looking to surpass Jack Nankervis’ six event wins in 2023 – and is now just one away from equalling that tally after a 5-1 win over King in the final.
While the in-form Howarth rightly grabbed the headlines, King should be incredibly proud of his achievement in reaching the final. The 15-year-old from Gravesend in Kent had not made it past the last 32 in any of the previous 13 events – but took his chances and played some excellent darts to get to the final.
Unfortunately for him, he ran into Howarth, who has now won three of the last six events.
He only lost one leg before the semi-finals, beating Denley Drummond 3-0 and Zach Godber 3-1, before averaging 81.98 in a 3-0 win over Jayden Fitzgerald.
Further 3-0 wins were achieved against Jenson Macey and Lewis Cook, before Wiltshire – a finalist earlier in the day – took two legs off Howarth in the semi-final.
After two scrappy holds to begin the final, Howarth broke with a 112 checkout and then held with a 15-darter to lead 3-1. Wiltshire held in 16 as the players found their rhythm, with Howarth booking his spot in the final with a hold in the sixth leg.
King hinted at a shock when he took the first leg of the final – but Howarth quickly showed the class that had taken him to four previous event wins on this year’s tour.
He held with a 72 checkout, then broke for a 2-1 lead, and eventually closed out his fifth event win of the year with a brilliant 110 checkout.
Howarth and Lawrie would have met in a mouthwatering quarter-final but for Lewis Cook, who came from 2-0 down to beat Lawrie 3-2 in the last 16 and has now reached three successive quarters.
Lawrie looked on his way to the last eight, only for Cook to hold in the third leg and then break with a 98 checkout as Lawrie waited on 5. Cook then clinched the win with a 68 checkout under pressure in the deciding leg after the Scotsman had hit 174 to leave 16.
Play continues on Sunday with Events 15 and 16.
Quarter-finals:
Cori Wiltshire (Eng) 3-1 Drake Porter (Eng)
Jack Howarth (Eng) 3-0 Lewis Cook (Eng)
Ieuan King (Eng) 3-0 Alex Hopkins (Eng)
Jayden Betteridge (Eng) 3-2 Hayden Ball (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Jack Howarth (Eng) 4-2 Cori Wiltshire (Eng)
Ieuan King (Eng) 4-1 Jayden Betteridge (Eng)
Final:
Jack Howarth (Eng) 5-1 Ieuan King (Eng)
