Today saw the youth players complete their weekend, starting out with the Playoffs for the WDF World Championship, followed by the finals of the World Masters events.

In the girls’ qualifiers, Kaylee Zerby lost her opener, but Kenzie Anderson stormed to a nice 4-1 win against Daphne Camijn (Netherlands). In her second game, Kenzie was quickly two legs to the good. 2-0 became 2-1 after Kenzie missed three at 40, and Rebecca Eleanor Allen cleaned up her remaining 20. The Irish girl then stepped up a gear, and took the match by a score of 4-2.

Jimmy Fitzsimmons, Seth Patenaude, Jeremy Demers, and David Kramer were first-match casualties in the boys, while Ryan Avellino, Kaden Anderson, and P.J. Stewart all advanced. This is where some tough draws started to take effect…

Ryan was the first to go, as he faced Leighton Bennett. Leighton, you may remember, actually competed in the 2020 Lakeside World Championship – as an adult! Ryan started strongly, and took the first leg. He showed good form throughout the rest of the match, but missed doubles were to cost him, and the English lad clinched it 4-1. P.J. and Kaden both won.

P.J. was now up against current World Youth # 1, Luke Littler – who had posted a 96 average in the previous round. Littler was unable to replicate that form, but Stewart couldn’t quite take advantage. Luke won 4-2, but if only P.J.’s dart at the bull for a 124 out (in the sixth leg) had gone in, it could have been a different story. Meanwhile, Anderson was eliminating Austrian Leon Eder in six legs.

Now, it was Kaden’s turn to meet Luke Littler! Again, if only…

Luke sped into a 2-0 lead, only for Kaden to take the next two and square the match.

Anderson then proceeded to miss six darts at 20 in the third (with the throw), and Littler managed to regain the lead. Undeterred, Kaden broke straight back to make it 3-3, but a miss from 63 in the next cost him the leg. He fought hard in the ninth leg, leaving 147, but Littler checked out from 81. What really hurts is that a win here would have given him a spot at Lakeside…

With no Americans left in the women’s (Beau Greaves took the title from Spain’s Almudena Fajardo), it was up to Danny Lauby to be the hero.

It looked grim as went two legs down to the experienced Nick Kenny, but those were to be the last legs the Welshman was to win. Lauby pulled back to 2-1, and aided by a 180 in each of the next three legs, the Indiana native was soon 4-2 up. 4-2 became 5-2, and Danny was in the semis.

So, Dutchman Wesley Plaisier was next, and things were looking good as the Witch City Open Champ opened up a 4-1 lead. Plaisier held his throw to win the sixth, but a nice 15-darter (with a 180) made it 5-2, leaving Danny one leg from victory.

Danny wired a 101 out for the match, and it was 5-3. No biggie, as he had the darts on the next leg. A miss from 72, and it was 5-4.

Danny missed nine darts at 40 in the next leg, and it was 5-5. No biggie, as he had the darts on the last leg. A miss from 123, and Wesley Plaisier was in the final. Not what we wanted, and not what it should have been, but it’s what it was. Whether it’s a consolation or not, Plaisier beat Northern Ireland’s Barry Copeland in the final.

Tomorrow sees the World Championship Qualifiers for the men and the women. Live updates are available on DartConnect, and live streams are available from Winmau, WDF Darts, Nederlands Darts Bond, and Tungsten Tales

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