2023 World Seniors Matchplay

Leonard Gates capture his third World Seniors Tour event of the year, with a scintillating series of displays at the World Seniors Matchplay this weekend. Held in York, the field included no fewer than six World Champions, but it was the man from Texas who again proved to be the best.

Four World Champs fell at the first hurdle, with Trina Gulliver, John Part, Glen Durrant, and Scott Mitchell all failing to safely negotiate their T16 matches. Gates, meanwhile, quietly edged into the Quarter-Finals with a 9-7 win over Northern Ireland’s Colin McGarry.

Next time out, ‘Soulger’ was involved in the match of the tournament. In a superb battle that saw the two highest averages of the Matchplay, Gates squeaked past Canada’s David Cameron by 11 legs to 9. The American averaged 101.28 to Cameron’s 95.79. The first 19 legs all went with the darts, before Gates finally broke serve.

The semi-final was another close affair, as the Senior Masters Champ saw off the evergreen Paul Hogan (the darter, not the Aussie comic) 9-7. In the other semi, Scotland’s Jim McEwan beat out reigning WDF World Champion Neil Duff 9-5.

Gates was quickest out of the blocks in the final, and raced into a 4-0 lead, with winning legs of 16, 15, 16, and 12, before his opponent managed to get on the board with a 12 of his own. Gates then picked up four of the next six legs to leave himself one leg from the title. He had to wait, as McEwan took the next three in 14, 15, and 15, but it was too late, and one final 13-dart leg completed an historic treble!

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