It was a busy spell for Team360 with the weather hotting up around the country so were some of
the performances on the board! Cori Wiltshire hit his first ton plus average since stepping up, doing
so with a 103.66 at local competition in Bath.
The ADC Vault’s have become a popular stomping ground for Team360 and Cayden Smith etched his name into the winners circle in Kidderminster. After a 96 average in the group stages Smith battled past Daniel Gallagher in the quarter-finals. He then averages 92 in the whitewash of Daniel Collins before confirming the tournament win by seeing off Ryan Green.
It would also be a positive weekend for Adam Dee who reached the final four of his local vault event
and the ADC Open Series. It was a week for big averages with Dee averaging over 92 in his Vault run.
Jack Nankervis has been a force in the South-West over the past 18 months and we even able to take a first time darter to a tournament win at the weekend. Jack paired with his mother to get her a win on her darts debut before sealing the victory in the singles comp later in the day. Nankervis would also reach the semi-finals of the latest England Darts Grand Prix, with Cayden Smith reaching the final of the event.
There was a superleague win for Connor Hopkins who also sealed his qualification for the Red
Dragon Champion of Champions in Cardiff. Team360’s youngster member, Kai Tiffen, was also on
the winning trail as he secured a 3-0 for Durham County. At the age of nine he has already played,
and in some cases defeated, notable names in the North-East and has become quite a star in the
youth game in the area.
It was a winning return to advanced tour action for Jack Nankervis as he kicked off his weekend in
style with a 6-2 win over Jack Marshall. Whilst his performances weren’t at their scintillating best,
Nankervis maintained mid-70’s averages to sweep past Tergel Khurelkhuu and then Joseph Westby
before dispatching Marshall in the final. His opponent would gain revenge later in the weekend,
defeating the South-West thrower in a further final in event 11 and then in the event 12 semi-finals.
Making his advanced tour debut in 2024, Ryan Branley would reach the final of event 10 in Coventry. Having produced several high 80’s averages earlier in the day Branley staved off Tergel to reach the finale. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the young Geordie with Archie Self running out a 6-0 winner. There would be a semi-final run for Cayden Smith in event 11 as he ran into the in-form
Nankervis. Nico Bado would also reach the last eight on two occasions, losing out to Jack Marshall
and Archie Self respectively.
Hannah Meek was back on form as she claimed a JDC Girl’s title, which mirrored the advanced tour
over the weekend. She would hit her highest average of the day to defeat fellow Team360 member
Rebecca Allen in the final. With Meek not in attendance on Sunday, Allen would reach yet another
final, this time losing out to Paige Pauling.
It was also a busy week on the ADC Vault front with Adam Dee winning in his homeland despite
experimenting with a new set up. He averaged 88 in defeating Katie Sheldon in the round robin
before a 79.5 average was enough to see off Joe Quinn in the final. There was also success for fellow Irishman Aidan O’Hara who doubled the tally for the Republic with a vault win of his own, and a final earlier in the weekend for Welshman Fabian Tapner. Our final Vault update goes the way of Connor Hopkins who sealed the title in Bargoed, doing so with four maximums and an impressive 92 first nine average for the tournament.
Keelan Kay would reach the final Saturday at the MODUS Super Series and he gathered momentum
with some improved form. Having finished second in the table on eight points, Kay would move into
Sunday’s finals night. He was narrowly defeated in deciding legs by Chris Hurds and Ron
Meulenkamp in what was an outstanding week for ‘The Lord of the Board’.
The weekend also saw the return of the open round robin, and a win for the rapidly improving Cori
Wiltshire. The youngster has been cutting his teeth on the JDC circuit and is now taking his a-game
into senior competition. His crowning performance came in the final as he defeated George White 4
1, his clinical finishing the deciding factor.
Winmau was excited to welcome Bradley Van Der Velden to Team 360.
Sixteen-year-old Bradley hails from Leiderdorp in the Netherlands. In 2023, Bradley triumphed at the WDF Lakeside World Youth Championship, impressively not dropping a single set throughout the tournament. In the semi-finals, he bested Germany’s Mats Theobald with a 2-0 victory. On the final stage at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Bradley defeated Ireland’s Adam Dee with a decisive 3-0 win.
Additionally, in 2023, Van Der Velden was crowned the NDB Ranking Champion among juniors and secured a victory at the NK Darts in Barneveld. He is currently ranked 28th on the WDF boys’ ranking table.
Steve Brown, Founder and chairman of the JDC, commented “ I’m delighted to have the reigning WDF Boys champion join our prestigious Team 360. Bradley is a young player with bags of experience and has obviously proved he’s World Level. It’s also pleasing to see how the JDC Cadet network has unearthed another amazing talent for Winmau Team 360 ”
Cayden Smith came oh so close to an ADC Championship tour win on Sunday as he was defeated in
the final by Thomas Banks. With a first nine in excess of a ton and the running average at 92, Smith
missed two darts to take it to a decider but can walk away proud of his work in Middlesbrough.
Ryan Branley was also in the attendance with the tournament taking place on his doorstep and
reached two 64’s with consistent 80 plus averages and can count himself unfortunate not to have
made it further. Away from the ADC there was a local win for Nathan Potter and Jack Nankervis
reached the final of a local set play tournament, hitting a 10-darter en route. There was also a singles win for the South-West thrower which saw his average 107.36 in the semi-finals, simply incredible darts!
Cori Wiltshire has made Brown’s Bar a happy hunting ground of late and did so again on Thursday
evening as he defeated JDC Cadet Shoey Ayres in the weekly open final. There was a Gibraltar men’s ranking win for Nico Bado in his homeland and there was a whitewash win for Connor Hopkins as his league season drew to a close.
Irish duo Adam Dee and Aidan O’Hara have been progressing nicely on their local ciruit, with O’Hara
picking up another vault title last week. Despite not showing his best stuff, the youngster defeated
Dean Finn 3-1 in the final. There was a runner-up spot for Dee around the corner as he came up just short in his final, despite averaging 90 in his semi-final win over Mark Cullen.
Away from the board our final shoutout goes to PJ Stewart who completed his qualification to
become a private pilot. Way to go, PJ!
—–Ends—–
Images: Winmau
