Van der Velde & Kist seal Dutch double on Winmau Challenge Tour

Jurjen van der Velde (PDC)

Jurjen van der Velde and Christian Kist ensured a Dutch double at the PDC Winmau Challenge Tour on Saturday with victories in Leicester.

Teenager Van der Velde won his second Challenge Tour event of 2022 by claiming the Event 18 title at the Morningside Arena.

Van der Velde's opening round win over former UK Open semi-finalist Alan Norris set the tone for a dominant campaign, as he relinquished just ten legs in reaching the final. 

The young Dutchman posted 97 and 98 averages to see off Peter Jacques and David Pallett, before whitewashing St Helens veteran Alan Tabern in the quarter-finals. 

Van der Velde then eased past Germany's Daniel Klose in the semi-finals, before edging out his compatriot Patrick Peters in a nine-leg affair to clinch the £2,000 winner's prize.

Klose impressed in his run to the semi-finals, averaging over 100 to whitewash Jim Moston in the last eight, while Graham Usher averaged 104.38 earlier in the day, before succumbing to Peters in the semi-finals.

Kist, meanwhile, followed up his run to the Event 16 final by going all the way in Event 19 the following day to claim his maiden PDC title.

Christian Kist (PDC)

The former Lakeside Champion won seven games on his way to the £2,000 top prize, being taken to a deciding leg by Danny van Trijp in the last 64 in his toughest test.

He also overcame Ben West, Lukas Wenig, Matthew Dennant, Thibault Tricole and Karel Sedlacek to reach the final, where he saw off Danny Lauby 5-3.

The pair's success means that three of the four events staged so far this weekend have been won by Dutchmen, after Wesley Plaisier took victory on Friday alongside Robert Owen.

The year's penultimate Challenge Tour weekend concludes on Sunday with Event 20, with a further £10,000 in prize money on offer.

Scott Williams retained his lead at the top of the Order of Merit, with a quarter-final appearance on Saturday helping him move to £7,350 - with Owen on £5,500 and Van Trijp on £5,450 behind him.

Van der Velde sits fifth, while Kist moved up to eighth following his success.

The top two players from the final 2022 Challenge Tour Order of Merit will secure a PDC Tour Card for 2023/24 and a place in the 2022/23 Cazoo World Darts Championship.

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PDC Winmau Challenge Tour
Saturday September 17, Morningside Arena, Leicester
Event 18
Quarter-Finals

Graham Usher 5-2 Scott Williams
Patrick Peters 5-1 Jan Hlavacek
Jurjen van der Velde 5-0 Alan Tabern
Daniel Klose 5-0 Jim Moston

Semi-Finals
Patrick Peters 5-3 Graham Usher
Jurjen van der Velde 5-2 Daniel Klose

Final
Jurjen van der Velde 5-4 Patrick Peters

Event 19
Quarter-Finals

Christian Kist 5-2 Thibault Tricole
Karel Sedlacek 5-4 Jacques Labre
Kai Fan Leung 5-1 Alan Tabern
Danny Lauby 5-2 Jeroen Mioch

Semi-Finals
Christian Kist 5-3 Karel Sedlacek
Danny Lauby 5-0 Kai Fan Leung

Final
Christian Kist 5-3 Danny Lauby