Nathan Rafferty secured a debut appearance at the William Hill World Darts Championship on Sunday, after winning the 2022 PDC Winmau Development Tour Order of Merit, as he picked up his 5th title of the year, whilst Joshua Richardson also enjoyed success, as the PDC Youth Tour season came to a close at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.
Rafferty, who picked up his 4th event of the year at Saturday’s Event 22, went back-to-back as he leap-frogged his fellow Northern Irish compatriot Josh Rock at the top of the Order of Merit, by dropping 13 legs on route to the final, as he recorded victories over Robbe Dasseville, Mikey Rees, Kayden Milne, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Dom Taylor, Daniel Perry and Sebastian Bialecki, to set up a clash with Lewy Williams.
The final began with the pair holding throw in the opening two legs, before a run of three straight legs saw Rafferty move 4-1 ahead and within one of victory. Williams did pull a leg back, before Rafferty sealed the victory in leg 7 with a 15 darter to pick up back-to-back titles and a 5th tournament win of the year.
In Event 24, Joshua Richardson was victorious, as he reached the final by recording victories over Jake Neale, Dylan Slevin, Conall Doughty, Archie Macleod, Jitse Van der Wal, Adam Gawlas and Thomas Banks, to set up a clash with Jurjen Van der Velde.
The final began with three straight holds of throw, before the first break came from Richardson in leg 4 with a 21 darter to move 3-1 ahead. Van der Velde then won back-to-back legs to level up the tie and make it a best of three contest. Advantage of throwing first proved to be vital in the end, as the pair then held throw for the following three legs, which saw Richardson seal victory in the decider with a 14 darter.
Elsewhere, Lewy Williams secured a return to the World Darts Championship after finishing 4th on the Order of Merit, with Geert Nentjes and Jurjen Van der Velde provisionally sealing two-year Tour Cards, should Nentjes remain outside the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit come the end on 2022.
PDC Development Tour
Event 23
Quarter Finals
Lewy Williams 5-3 Nathan Girvan
Brandon Weening 5-3 Owen Bates
Nathan Rafferty 5-3 Daniel Perry
Sebastian Bialecki 5-3 Jitse Van der Wal
Semi Finals
Lewy Williams 5-4 Brandon Weening
Nathan Rafferty 5-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Final
Nathan Rafferty 5-2 Lewy Williams
Event 24
Quarter Finals
Joshua Richardson 5-2 Adam Gawlas
Thomas Banks 5-4 Nathan Rafferty
Owen Maiden 5-3 Man Lok Leung
Jurjen Van der Velde 5-3 Brandon Weening
Semi Finals
Joshua Richardson 5-2 Thomas Banks
Jurjen Van der Velde 5-3 Owen Maiden
Final
Joshua Richardson 5-4 Jurjen Van der Velde
—–ENDS—–
Image: PDC
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