Rock & Rafferty celebrate Winmau Development Tour victories in Wigan

Winmau Development Tour

Northern Irish duo Josh Rock and Nathan Rafferty celebrated victories on a high-quality day of Winmau Development Tour action in Wigan on Friday.

2023 PDC calendar unveiled

News

The 2023 PDC calendar will see over 170 days of darts played around the world.

International stars confirmed for 2022 Winmau World Youth Championship

PDC Winmau World Youth Championship

The field of pre-qualified players for the 2022 Winmau World Youth Championship has been confirmed.

Rafferty wraps up third Development Tour title of 2022 in Hildesheim

Winmau Development Tour

Nathan Rafferty clinched his third Winmau Development Tour title of 2022 with victory over Kevin Doets on Sunday, capping off the latest weekend of action in Hildesheim.

Williams & Van Veen claim maiden Development Tour titles

Winmau Development Tour

Gian van Veen and Lewy Williams celebrated maiden Development Tour titles on a thrilling day of darts in Hildesheim on Saturday.

Rampant Rock secures Development Tour double in Hildesheim

Winmau Development Tour

The 2022 Winmau Development Tour season continues with Events 16 & 17 in Germany on Friday.

Brilliant Barry completes Development Tour brace in Hildesheim

Winmau Development Tour

Keane Barry capped off a brilliant weekend of Winmau Development Tour action by clinching a second title inside three days in Hildesheim on Sunday.

Nentjes & Bialecki share Development Tour spoils

Winmau Development Tour

Geert Nentjes and Sebastian Bialecki shared the spoils on Saturday, as the Winmau Development Tour weekend continued in Hildesheim.

Rafferty and Barry secure Development Tour victories

Winmau Development Tour

Nathan Rafferty and Keane Barry claimed victories on Friday, as a blockbuster weekend of Winmau Development Tour action began in Germany.

Nentjes claims third Winmau Development Tour title

Winmau Development Tour

Geert Nentjes was the victor in Event Ten of the Winmau Development Tour on Sunday to conclude the weekend's action at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.

Germany's Fabian Schmutzler has secured his spot at the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship as he clinched a second PDC Unicorn European Development Tour title in succession as the tour came to a close on Sunday.

With Rusty-Jake Rodriguez having already qualified for the World Championship through the ProTour Order of Merit, the second-placed player on the European Development Tour Order of Merit would secure an Alexandra Palace place.

Schmutzler's success in Event 11, followed by another strong run in Event 12 meant that he moved onto £6,000 in prize money and well ahead of his rivals for qualification in his first weekend competing on the Development Tour circuit.

It was a double German success on the day at the H+ Hotel in Niedernhausen, with Nico Kurz also securing victory in the final event.

Sixteen-year-old Schmutzler, who secured his first title with Event Ten on Saturday, was back in the winner's circle once again, moving him into a commanding position in the European Development Tour order of Merit heading into the final event. 

He kicked things off in Event 11 with a 4-0 win over Norway's Henrik Ettrup, and quickly followed this with a 4-1 win over Jeroen Mioch and 4-2 triumph against Kevin Doets. 

Two whitewash victories were to follow against Justin Paul and Gijsbert Van Malsen to reach the last four. 

His toughest test came in the semi-finals, but Schmutzler edged through to the final with a 5-3 win over Czech Republic's Tomas Houdek.

Standing in the way of back-to-back titles for Schmutzler was the more experienced Adam Gawlas, but again the German proved too strong as he ran out a 5-2 winner to win European Development Tour 11.

Crucially for Schmutzler, he also put on a bright showing in Event 12, reaching the semi-finals to further boost his earnings and put him out of reach from the chasing pack for the spot at Alexandra Palace. 

The youngster secured his World Championship spot in just six events, having only become old enough to compete in October when he turned 16. 

However, it was 24-year-old Kurz who secured the title in the final event of the year, beating compatriot Dominik Gruellich 5-1 in the final. 

The victory means that Kurz squeezed himself into tenth in the European Development Tour Order of Merit, and crucially into a qualifying spot for the 2021 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship. 

He started his run to the title with a 4-2 win over Geert Nentjes, before beating Leon Remde by the same scoreline. 

A 4-0 whitewash of Daan Bastiaansen followed, before two 4-3 victories over Egor Tvorogov and Mark Tabak to reach the quarter-finals. 

There he edged out compatriot Kevin Luhr 5-2 and followed this by seeing off Maikel Verberk by the same scoreline to reach the final, where he beat Gruellich to secure the title. 

Kurz joins Rodriguez, Schmutzler, Nentjes, Niels Zonneveld, Sebastian Bialecki, Jurjen van der Velde, Niko Springer, Doets and Mike van Duivenbode in securing qualification for November's PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship.

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