Burnett Bouncing Again!

Former Lakeside World Champion Richie Burnett was buoyant once more as he featured amongst those to pick up victory on the opening weekend of the Winmau Challenge Tour and accepted an inviataion to the Circus Tavern in February.

The Red Dragon player lost his tour card at the start of the year, but defeating Darryl Pilgrim 5-4 in the Final of Event 1 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes was the perfect reposte. A successful year on the Challenge Tour could see the former Wales World Cup representative in the running for potential spots at the World Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts.

The Welsh international sits 6^th in the Winmau Challenge Tour Order of Merit after the first 5 tournaments concluded, with Danny Jansen top of the rankings having won Event 2 whilst reaching the Finals in 2 other competitions.

The Prince of Wales opened his campaign in Winmau Challenge Tour 1 with early victories over Joshua Hermann and Michael Flynn, before averaging 100.37 in a 5-2 victory over Peter Jacques, who impressed on the ADC Circuit last year.

The Welsh international was pushed all the way by Irish international Connor Heneghan in the Last 32, with Connor despite defeat finding the only maximum in the contest.

Burnett continued his run in the opening competition of the 2024 Challenge Tour, beating former South African World Cup representative Devon Peterson 5-3 before clinching a last leg decider over fellow Red Dragon player Reece Colley in the Quarter Finals.

Check out Richie’s latest edition darts. Here

The Red Dragon player hit 1 of the 4 180s hit in the Last 8 contest, as well as 2 14 dart legs including one in the deciding 9^th leg of the match to reach the Semi Finals.

The 1995 Lakeside World Champion claimed a place in the Final after beating Switzerland international Stefan Bellmont 5-3 in the Semi Finals, hitting the only 180 of the contest as well as a 12-dart leg to level the contest at 3-3.

Richie claimed the title with a tough Final victory over Darryl Pilgrim, with Mr P including a 100.91 average in his Semi Final victory over Franz Roetzsch. The Prince of Wales clinched a last leg decider to win Event 1 and his 3^rd Challenge Tour success over what has been a remarkable and topsy turvy darting career.

The Welsh international, despite averaging 7 points lower than his opponent in the Final, used all his experience and took his chances at the Marshall Arena including consecutive 14 dart legs for a 3-2 lead.

Danny Jansen impressed after also losing his Tour Card at the back end of last year, defeating Darryl Pilgrim 5-3 in the Final of Event 2 before losing in the Event 3 and 5 Finals against Oskar Lukasiak and Aden Kirk.

The Mullet though sits over a £1000 clear in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, with Event 4 Winner Stefan Bellmont second whilst English duo Darryl Pilgrim and Event 5 winner Aden Kirk are joint for 3^rd having both earned £3250 from the first 5 tournaments.

The repercussions of losing a PDC Tour Card are not catastrophic anymore with many competitions still available to players via the Challenge Tour, MODUS Super Series and the ADC.

The likes of Brian Raman and Connor Scutt who have both played on the Pro Tour in the past are part of this week’s Week 10 lineup at the Live Lounge, as well as the 2023 Red Dragon Champion of Champions winner Kurt Parry.

For Burnett there is the added bonus of making his World Seniors debut at the Circus Tavern in February, after accepting an invitation last week. As such the 56-year-old well certainly be kept busy over the coming months.

👑 BURNETT ACCEPTS FINAL INVITATION 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

1995 World Champion Richie Burnett has accepted the 22nd and final invitation to the 2024 @jenningsbetinfo World Seniors Darts Championship 🎯

Full release 👇 pic.twitter.com/jpFNnRJkdj
— World Seniors Darts (@SeniorsDarts) January 19, 2024

The Winmau Challenge Tour will return in the middle of March, heading to Halle 39 in Hildesheim for the next 5 competitions with 24 scheduled for 2024.