Over the weekend, the final block of events on the 2026 CDC Tour took place in Ontario, Canada. This meant that spots were on the line for not only the World Championships, but also the upcoming CDC majors.
The World Championships spots that were on offer go to the highest ranked unqualified player from USA and from Canada. With Adam Sevada securing his spot through the North American Championship, and David Cameron through the Cross-Boarder Challenge, they were ruled out of contention.
Fred Krueger led the American race, with a 21-point lead over Leonard Gates, and 32 over Alex Spellman. With 18 points on offer to the winner of each of the remaining three events, and eight to the runner-up, this was a strong lead for Krueger.
Brayden Hall had a smaller lead in the Canadian race. He was 6.5pts ahead of Kiley Edmunds, 15.5pts ahead of Jason Roker, and 21-23 points ahead of Albert Anstey and Jeff Smith.
The top 24 at the end of the weekend would also qualify for the Continental Cup, where the winner also qualified for the World Championships. The top six from each nation qualify for the 2027 Cross-Boarder Challenge, to be played next year.
DJD Darts Challenge – Event 14
The first event of the weekend kicked off on Saturday afternoon, with top seed David Cameron falling at the Last 32 to fellow Canadian Jason Pelley, along with 5th seed Gary Mawson and 6th seed Nick Linberg in the early stages.
Jason Pelley, who was competing in his first event on the CDC having won his Tour Card a week prior, went on to reach the Quarter-Finals, where he eventually lost to Fred Krueger. 19-year-old Zachary Meeks also managed to reach the Semi-Finals on his debut, having topped the 2026 CDC Evolution Tour Order of Merit.
The final saw the top two Americans in the field face off – Fred Krueger and Leonard Gates. Gates took the title in a deciding leg, claiming a second of his season, and record extending 15th of his career, but only closed the gap on Krueger by six points.
The performance of the event came from Fred Krueger and Zachary Meeks, both averaging 97.60 in their first round encounters.
With Brayden Hall losing in the Last 32, and Kiley Edmunds finding his way through to the Quarter-Finals, the gap had reduced to just 2.5pts. Edmunds also nailed a 9-darter in his encounter with Gates in the Quarter-Finals.
Quarter-Finals
Fred Krueger (81.0) 6-3 Jason Pelley (79.8)
Zachary Meeks (92.5) 6-3 Jeff Smith (92.6)
Leonard Gates (87.8) 6-4 Kiley Edmunds (89.6)
Kevin Luke (89.2) 6-3 Alex Spellman (79.4)
Semi-Finals
Fred Krueger (90.4) 7-3 Zachary Meeks (85.2)
Leonard Gates (90.8) 7-6 Kevin Luke (87.0)
Final
Leonard Gates (86.9) 7-6 Fred Krueger (91.2)
Boomerang Tours Championship – Event 15
The second event of the saw a lot of new names reaching the later stages. However, with Leonard Gates losing in the Last 32 to Kevin Luke, and Fred Krueger getting through to the Last 16 before falling short to Mike Scarborough, the gap was now at 18pts. With Krueger guaranteed a point just for entering tomorrow, this meant he had confirmed his World Championship debut in his first year on the CDC Tour.
Brayden Hall saw his way through to the Quarter-Finals, a big result for him with Kiley Edmunds losing to Jason Pelley in the opening round, giving him a massive World Championship boost. Jeff Smith had other ideas, as he took out Albert Anstey and Kevin Luke to reach the final.
Smith took on Ram Guevara Jr, who had never previously made it past the Quarter-Final stages at a CDC event. Smith railroaded the American with a dominant 7-1 victory, claiming his first CDC Title since 2021, and cutting the gap on Brayden Hall to 7 points, going above Kiley Edmunds.
The performance of the event came from David Cameron, averaging 91.75 in his 6-3 Last 16 win over Jacob Taylor.
Quarter-Finals
David Cameron (86.2) 6-3 Mike Scarborough (77.1)
Ram Guevara Jr (76.1) 6-5 Brayden Hall (71.9)
Kevin Luke (80.6) 6-5 Jim Long (79.4)
Jeff Smith (84.4) 6-5 Albert Anstey (84.6)
Semi-Finals
Ram Guevara Jr (86.9) 7-3 David Cameron (83.7)
Jeff Smith (83.4) 7-6 Kevin Luke (81.3)
Final
Jeff Smith (76.2) 7-1 Ram Guevara (73.1)
Winmau Canada Classic – Event 16
Sunday rolled around with the final event of the 2026 season. Drama started quickly, with Matt Campbell taking out Brayden Hall in the opening round. Jeff Smith fell shortly after, taken out by Jim Long in the Last 32. This meant only Kiley Edmunds could deny Hall a debut at the World Championships but would need a run to the final to do so.
The day started well for Edmunds, even taking out Tour Card Holder Jim Long in the Last 16. However, Leonard Gates saw him off in the Quarter-Finals to confirm that Brayden Hall would make his World Championship debut in December, doing so in his first year on the CDC Tour.
The event continued, with former UK Open finalist Gary Mawson making the Semi-Finals, along with Matt Campbell, reaching his first Semi-Final on the CDC Tour since September 2022. However, they both fell short, as Leonard Gates reached his second final of the weekend.
This time Gates didn’t have enough, as Joey Lynaugh claimed a career first CDC Title. The performance of the event came from 19-year-old Zachary Meeks, averaging a brilliant 104.3 in his Last 32 win over Michael Nguyen. Campbell also produced a 100.81 average to beat Alex Spellman at the same stage.
Quarter-Finals
Joey Lynaugh (76.1) 6-4 Gino Florian (77.7)
Gary Mawson (92.8) 6-1 Zachary Meeks (85.4)
Leonard Gates (89.2) 6-3 Kiley Edmunds (83.0)
Matt Campbell (78.3) 6-1 Nick Linberg (65.8)
Semi-Finals
Joey Lynaugh (84.7) 7-5 Gary Mawson (86.5)
Leonard Gates (87.7) 7-4 Matt Campbell (86.6)
Final
Joey Lynaugh (84.0) 7-4 Leonard Gates (78.5)
What this means?
The season is over, with Fred Krueger and Leonard Gates claiming the World Championship spots. Along with this, the top eight players on the Order of Merit earn spots in the Preliminary Rounds of the 2027 Winmau World Masters, as well as free entry into the Second Stage of Q-School. These are Adam Sevada, Fred Krueger, Leonard Gates, David Cameron, Alex Spellman, Joey Lynaugh, Nick Linberg, and Doug Boehm.
