The ADC Winmau Championship South returned for it’s final block of events, and Darren Brown and Ash Coleman scooped the titles on offer on day one in Aylesbury.
Brown was attending the Tour for the first time this season, and made up for lost time by taking Event Nine glory, beating Jack Drayton 5-3 in the final on stage. Brown began in the last 256, taking whitewash wins against Macauley Parker and Matt Gallett, and then dropped one leg in each of his wins against Stuart Walker and Carl Lewis.
A battling 5-4 win against Steve Green moved Brown into the quarter finals, and a 90.44 average was enough for him to down Archie Self in a 5-3 quarter final win.
The Derbyshire man impressed again in making the final, as he dominated a 5-1 success against Steve West, and PDC Winmau Development Tour high-flyer Jack Drayton would await him in the final.
Drayton began with 90-plus averages in wins against Alfie Cook and Shaun Fox, and successes against Lewis Gurney and Ryan Short ensured he made the last 16, where a 93.35 average sealed a 5-3 win against James Green.
Drayton then had to battle to get past Harry Lane in a final-leg thriller, and coasted into the final, winning 5-1 against Kevin Leadenham. An 81 finish gave Brown a 2-0 lead, and he didn’t let up, a 16-darter ended on double four confirming a hard-earned title win.
Ash Coleman then catapulted himself up to ninth in the standings at Event Ten, taking a solid 5-1 win in the final against Harry Lane in the final. Coleman had to go the distance to make the last 64 with last-leg wins against Kevin Lane and Kristian Barker, and then eased past Alfie Cook and Tom Baughan before hammering Chas Barstow 5-1 to make the last eight.
Coleman repeated the feat to take a 5-1 victory against Jamie Hughes, but had to work to make the final, squeezing past Neil Duff, who went seven darts into a perfect leg but went down 5-4 to the ‘Prince of Darkness’.
Lane downed Louis Jones and Nick Cocks, before ousting standings-leader Callum Francis in the last 64, and he then took out Event Nine winner Darren Brown 4-3, before needing another last leg to eliminate Bradley O’Connor in the last 16.
Highly-rated youngster Lewis Cook was next to be defeated by Lane, and he made the final with a workmanlike 5-3 win over Dan Hands. It was a low-key final, but Coleman saved the best for last, a 14-darter helping him to the title and the £1,000 first prize.
Callum Francis still leads the standings from Archie Self, with Graham Hall in third and Alan Slater sat in fourth. The final two events take place on Sunday.
Images: ADC
