It was another global darts weekend for the WDF in every sense of the word, with ranking events staged across five countries and a fresh crop of champions to show for it. This was headlined by a continued hot streak in Italy and a historic first winner in India.
The recent conveyer belt of young talent rapidly accelerating through the WDF system was maintained but a veteran handed out lessons to the younger generation in the women’s catagory.
Italy: Walker keeps rolling, Townley sweeps up
Jenson Walker’s (main image) remarkable run of form shows no sign of slowing. “The Interceptor” added the Adriatic Classic and Italian Grand Masters titles to his collection across the weekend, taking him to five WDF titles in a little over a month and eight for the year overall. The Grand Masters win came via a 6-2 win at the expense of Lewis Gurney.
It was just as good a weekend for Paula Jacklin, who followed last week’s title double in Calella with a 5-2 win over Aurora Fochesato in the Grand Masters final to make it seven WDF titles this year.
INTERESTED IN GLOBAL DARTS? Checkout DartsWorld’s Dedicated Area
Fochesato had her own moment in the sun a day earlier, though, beating Paige Pauling to the Adriatic Classic Women’s title, her third senior WDF crown of 2026
In the Youth ranks, 17-year-old Ben Townley put together a clean sweep of all three Italian events, adding the Grand Masters and Italian Open titles to his Adriatic Classic win from Friday night. He arrived in Italy with a single WDF Youth title to his name and left with four.
Elsewhere in Italy, Angelo Balsamo claimed a maiden WDF title at the Italian Open with a 6-4 win over Gurney, booking his place at next year’s World Masters in Las Vegas, while Germany’s Irina Armstrong made it three Italian Open Women’s titles in as many years.
India: A historic first
The inaugural India Open produced its first ever champions, with Tomoya Goto beating Ankit Goenka 6-1 in the Open final, a result that moves him into a provisional World Championship spot.
DARTS PLAYER MERCHANDISE AND COLLECTABLES AT OUR DARTSWORLD STORE!
Mahima Gautu, won the women’s event, beating Tia Banerjee 5-0 in the final having seen off top seed Maret Liiri in the semis. Since this was a silver-ranked event, both finalists are granted qualification to the WDF World Masters next year.
USA: Gates makes it four in a row
Leonard Gates retained his Witch City Open crown for a fourth straight year, beating Robbie Phillips 5-2 in the final to deny him a second title in as many weekends.
In the Women’s event, Canada’s Maria Carli claimed her third American WDF title in the space of a month, beating Nicole Hinshaw 5-1 in a final that featured a 15-darter and a 123 checkout along the way.
New Zealand and Hungary
Jonny Tata* moved back into provisional Lakeside contention with a dominant run to the Taranaki Open title, while Daphne Walters claimed her maiden WDF crown at the same event, upsetting New Zealand number one Nicole Regnaud on her way to the title.
In Hungary, Zsolt Csajbok enjoyed a rare senior-and-youth double at the Savaria Masters, while Austria’s Catalina Pasa went one better still, winning both the Women’s Masters and the following day’s Savaria Classic.
Dmitrii Rogov picked up his first WDF title at the Classic after six semi-final losses earlier in the year!
World Darts Federation Results:
Italian Grand Masters
Open – Jenson Walker
Women- Paula Jacklin
U23 Youth – Renato Scolamiero
Youth – Ben Townley
Italian Open
Open – Angelo Balsamo
Women – Irina Armstrong
U23 Youth – Reece Pauling
Youth – Ben Townley
Adriatic Classic
Open – Jenson Walker
Women – Aurora Fochesato
U23 Youth – Renato Scolamiero
Youth – Ben Townley
Indian Open
Open – Tomoya Goto
Women – Mahima Gautam
U23 Youth – Aayush Kothari
Youth – Yuvraj Dudhrejiya
U23 Girls – Muskan Kushwaha
Witch City Open
Open – Leonard Gates
Women – Maria Carli
U23 Youth – Parker St Pierre
Youth – Conner Olsen
U23 Girls – Layla Buntz
Girls – Nataly Pruett
Witch City Classic
U23 Youth – Seth Patenaude
Youth – Ryan Seewald-Brock
U23 Girls – Taylor Almeida
Girls – Nalanie Tirrell
Taranaki Open
Open – Jonny Tata
Women – Daphne Walters
Savaria Masters
Open – Zsolt Csajbok
Women – Catalina Pasa
Youth – Zsolt Csajbok
Girls – Nina Andrejkovicova
Savaria Classic
Open – Dmitrii Rogov
Women – Catalina Pasa
Youth – Balazs Szotak
Girls – Enea Hojnik
Check Out The DEDICATED DartsWorld Amateur Web Area
Images: WDF
