Gian Van Veen and 16-year-old Luke Littler were victorious on Saturday, in winning the latest Winmau Development Tour Events.
The first four events have been claimed by our different players as the opening weekend of the 2023 PDC’s Youth Tour season continued at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
Friday saw the Development Tour season commence, with Germany’s Christopher Toonders and Ireland’s Dylan Slevin triumphing by winning Events One & Two respectively, with each picking up the £2,500 first prize.
Littler, who began his debut weekend on the PDC circuit by reaching the final of Event Two, was victorious this time in Event Three, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Bradley Brooks, Paul-Merlin Pfeifer, Byron Garner, Daan Bastiaansen, Nathan Girvan, Riley Rees-Tucker and Oliver King, to set up a clash with Dutchman Jurjen Van der Velde.
The final began with Littler racing into a 3-0 lead, with winning legs including back-to-back 17 darters and a 14 darter, before Van der Velde picked up his first leg of the tie with a 17 darter in Leg Four. It turned out to be the only leg won by the Dutchman, with Littler going on to win the following two legs in a total of 35 darts to seal a 5-1 victory and picking up a maiden PDC title after just three events played.
In Event Four, Gian Van Veen, who picked up a two-year PDC Tour Card for the first time at January’s Qualifying School earlier this year, was victorious, as he reached the final firstly by recording victories against Jitse Van der Wal, Scott Smith, David Schlichting, James Beeton, Dylan Tuite, Owen Bates and Sebastian Bialecki, to set up a clash with Englishman, Adam Paxton.
The final began with Van Veen taking the opening two legs in a total of 35 darts, before Paxton fort back by winning back-to-back legs of his own in a total of 36 darts to square the tie up at 2 a piece.
Van Veen went on to win three consecutive legs, which saw the Dutchman seal the victory with a 21 darter and a 5-2 victory to pick up a 2nd Development Tour crown of his career.
The PDC Winmau Development Tour weekend concludes on Sunday with Event 5 taking place in Milton Keynes, as play commences from 10:30 BST, with all live scores and results to be viewed at tv.dartconnect.com
PDC Winmau Development Tour
Event 3
Quarter Finals
Oliver King 5-1 Stefan Dees
Luke Littler 5-3 Riley Rees-Tucker
Nathan Rafferty 5-4 Cam Crabtree
Jurjen Van der Velde 5-4 Lewy Williams
Semi Finals
Luke Littler 5-2 Oliver King
Jurjen Van der Velde 5-1 Nathan Rafferty
Final
Luke Littler 5-1 Jurjen Van der Velde
Event 4
Quarter Finals
Wessel Nijman 5-4 Luke Littler
Adam Paxton 5-1 Jordan Boyce
Sebastian Bialecki 5-4 Bradley Brooks
Gian Van Veen 5-3 Owen Bates
Semi Finals
Adam Paxton 5-4 Wessel Nijman
Gian Van Veen 5-2 Sebastian Bialecki
Final
Gian Van Veen 5-2 Adam Paxton
—–Ends—–
Image: Red Dragon
