Doets Does It

KEVIN Doets denied Josh Rock a PDC Winmau Development Tour debut double in Wigan on Saturday as the pair shared victories in Events Three and Four.

Northern Ireland’s Rock continued his impressive start to life on the PDC circuit with a narrow 5-4 victory over Lewy Williams in the Event Three decider to claim the title in his first Development Tour event.

He then enjoyed a run to the final of Event Four, where he was edged out 5-3 by Doets to end his hopes of completing an incredible double success.

Rock claimed £3,000 prize money on the day to move to the top of the Development Tour Order of Merit, with the run coming only a month after the 20-year-old from Antrim won a PDC Tour Card on his debut at Qualifying School.

Rock dropped just one leg in his first three games of Event Three, before defeating teenage star Leighton Bennett 4-3 in the last 16, and he then overcame Tomas Houdek and Keenan Thomas to secure a spot in the final.

The Northern Irishman led Williams 4-2 in the final before the Welsh ace hit a ten-darter to respond and levelled in leg eight, with both players initially missing their chance in the decider before Rock returned to claim the title.

Doets bounced back from a defeat in the Last 64 of Event Three to go all the way in the day’s second £10,000 tournament, defeating Rock 5-3 in the final.

Doets, 23, also defeated Williams in the evening, averaging over 100 in a 5-3 quarter-final success, and overcame former Development Tour event winner Dom Taylor and reigning JDC Junior World Champion Bradly Roes in Event Four.

Rock led 2-1 early in their final as he sought a daily double, but three successive legs from Doets turned the tie in favour of the Dutchman before he closed out a third Development Tour victory.

Former World Youth Champion Bradley Brooks, a winner on Friday, reached both quarter-finals on the day, while Event Two winner Keane Barry progressed to one quarter-final and also last 16 in Saturday’s opening event.

The PDC Winmau Development Tour weekend concludes on Sunday with Event Five. Follow live stats from approximately 1030 GMT via DartConnect.

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

See full results in the Match Centre.

See match stats through DartConnect.

PDC Winmau Development Tour
Event Three
Quarter-Finals
Adam Gawlas 5-4 Keelan Kay
Lewy Williams 5-2 Bradley Brooks
Keenan Thomas 5-3 Nathan Rafferty
Josh Rock 5-2 Tomas Houdek

Semi-Finals
Lewy Williams 5-3 Adam Gawlas
Josh Rock 5-3 Keenan Thomas

Final
Josh Rock 5-4 Lewy Williams

Event Four
Quarter-Finals
Nathan Girvan 5-1 Keane Barry
Josh Rock 5-1 Niels Zonneveld
Kevin Doets 5-3 Lewy Williams
Jarred Cole 5-3 Bradley Brooks

Semi-Finals
Josh Rock 5-4 Nathan Girvan
Kevin Doets 5-3 Jarred Cole

Final
Kevin Doets 5-3 Josh Rock

—–ENDS—–