Connor Hopkins is the new Red Dragon Champion of Champions, beating fellow Welshman Jeff Bass 2-1 in an all-Wales final at The Depot, Cardiff, to succeed David Davies as the tournament’s grassroots king.
Hopkins averaged 98.79 in the decider as Bass, who could only manage 88.26, was denied a fairytale run that had seen him come through the bottom half of the draw, dropping just 1 leg from the last-64 stage to the final.the pair’s paths, though, could hardly have been more different in tempo.
Hopkins survived a tight test in the last four, needing a 106.64 average to see off Taylor Richards, while Bass swept past Graham Brooks 2-0 in the other semi.
It capped off a big day for Hopkins, who had needed that deciding leg to see off Richards, but was far more comfortable in the quarter-finals, brushing aside Liam Wigley 2-0, having earlier beaten Alan Caset 2-0 in the last 16.
Bass’ own run included statement wins over Simon Stevenson in the last eight and Zac Griffiths at the previous stage.
Elsewhere in the latter stages, Stevenson had produced one of the standout individual performances of the, averaging just north of 100 to beat Charlie Wiles 2-1 in the last 16, where Dewi Beynon and Lee Jones require deciding legs to survive their own last-16 ties before falling at the quarter-final stage.
Hopkins now heads off with the £10,000 top prize, paid entry into Q-School, along with £500 towards travel and accommodation and a place in the preliminary round of the 2027 Winmau World Masters, the reward Red Dragon and the title sponsor Worthington’s added for this year’s installment.
It’s the latest chapter for an event now in its 11th year, run down from 256 pub and club qualifiers across the UK and Ireland to a single Finals Day at The Depot, and one that has previously helped launch the careers of Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton.
More at reddragondarts.com.
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