Lisa Ashton made her first appearance on the 2024 Women’s Amateur Darts Circuit Championship and claimed 3 of the 4 Events on offer to move 5th in the overall rankings.
“The Lancashire Rose” made the perfect start to proceedings after beating Event 5 and 8 winner Gemma Hayter 5-2 in the Final with a 92.95 average, hitting a first 9 score of 100.19.
The 4 Time Ladies World Champion hit a 14-dart leg to win Leg 6 before breaking the throw with a 15 darter to win the title, claiming £500 in prize money.
Ashton went on to claim a Championship Tour Double on the Saturday in Buckinghamshire, beating Trina Gulliver this time 5-1 in the Final, hitting a 146 checkout to seal the Event 10 title, claiming £1000 from her unbeaten day’s work.
The World Senior Championship Semi Finalist claimed 4 Events last year in one weekend and enjoyed a similar achievement on weekend 3 of the 2024 WADC Championship Tour.
Ashton qualified for the inaugural WADC Championship Tour Finals Day at the MODUS Super Series last year and is in a great position to repeat the trick this year.
The former PDC Tour Card holder rounded of the weekend in Aylesbury with victory in WADC Championship Tour 12, after edging out Steph Clarke 5-4 in the Final with Steph reaching both Finals on Sunday.
Lisa’s only defeat of the weekend came in the Last 16 of Event 11, where she lost out 4-3 against Marie Fitton.
Lisa moves up to 5th in the rankings as she leads Deta Hedman in 6th by 4 points, with 53 points separating her from 4th placed Angela Kirkwood.
Red Dragon’s latest recruit Gemma Hayter was the weekend’s other winner, as the former Hampshire County player picked up her 3rd tournament success of the year in Event 11.
Gemma included averages over 80+ in all matches of her run to the Final, with her best performance coming in a 4-0 win over Sophie Self in the Last 16, averaging 83.5 to reach the Quarter Finals.
Hayter clinched a 5-4 win in the Final against Steph Clarke, beating Steph for the 2nd time this year in a WADC Championship Tour Final, this time at Bradmoor Farm to claim £500 in prize money.
The Red Dragon player sits in third place in the rankings with Fallon Sherrock the new leader after she reached the Semi Finals of Event 10, to claim 16 ranking points.
Steph Clarke having reached 2 Finals on the Sunday, puts herself into the Top 8 positions with one weekend left to play, as she leads 9th placed Eleanor Cairns by a single point.
The final weekend of the WADC Championship Tour takes place on the 3rd and 4th of August, with the Top 8 in the rankings set to confirm their spots at the MODUS Super Series for Finals Day at the end of the year.
WADC Championship Tour 2024
Event 9 Final:
Lisa Ashton 5-2 Gemma Hayter
Event 10 Final:
Lisa Ashton 5-1 Trina Gulliver
Event 11 Final:
Gemma Hayter 5-4 Steph Clarke
Event 12 Final:
Lisa Ashton 5-4 Steph Clarke
2024 WADC Championship Tour Rankings:
1. Fallon Sherrock: 290pts
2. Vicky Pruim: 288pts
3. Gemma Hayter: 272pts
4. Angela Kirkwood: 249pts
5. Lisa Ashton: 196pts
6. Deta Hedman: 192pts
7. Samantha Kirton: 130pts
8. Steph Clarke: 125pts
9. Eleanor Cairns: 124pts
10. Lorraine Hyde: 120pts
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
