Northern Irish Duo Josh Rock and Nathan Rafferty were victorious on Friday, in winning Development Tour Events 21 & 22 respectively, as the final weekend of the PDC’s Youth Tour season commenced at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan.
Northern Irish Sensation, Rock, who’s previously won four Development Tour events in 2022, added yet another title at Event 21, as he dropped 13 legs on route to the final, by recording victories over Charlie Manby, Jacob Gwynne, Keane Barry, Liam Meek, Joshua Richardson and Dylan Slevin, to set up a clash with Rusty-Jake Rodriguez.
Nothing separated the pair for the opening stages of the decider, with four straight holds of throw, before Rock took advantage and won three on the spin, which included back-to-back 15 darters, before sealing victory with a 16 darter and a 5-2 success to pick up a 5th title of the year and looks set to win the 2022 Development Tour Order of Merit.
In Event 22, Rock’s fellow Northern Irish compatriot, Nathan Rafferty was victorious, as he dropped just 8 legs on route to the final, by recording victories over Pim Van Bijnen, Keenan Thomas, Nathan Care, Jonathan Parvaneh, Conor Heneghan, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Josh Rock, to set up a clash with Niko Springer.
The final began with four straight holds of throw, before the first break came from Rafferty in leg 5 with a 14 darter, before following it up with a 15 dart hold to move within one of victory. Springer did pull one leg back, before Rafferty sealed the victory in leg 8 with a 12 darter and a 5-3 success to pick up a 4th Development Tour crown of the year.
PDC Winmau Development Tour weekend continues on Saturday, with Events 23 & 24 taking place in Wigan, with places up for grabs at the 2022/23 PDC World Darts Championship and Two-Year PDC Tour Cards for 2023-2024. Play will commence at 10:00 GMT, as all live scores and results can be viewed at tv.dartconnect.com.
PDC Winmau Development Tour
Event 21
Quarter Finals
Bradley Brooks 5-0 Daniel Perry
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 5-2 Nathan Girvan
Dylan Slevin 5-1 Gian Van Veen
Josh Rock 5-4 Joshua Richardson
Semi Finals
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 5-3 Bradley Brooks
Josh Rock 5-1 Dylan Slevin
Final
Josh Rock 5-2 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Event 22
Quarter Finals
Josh Rock 5-2 Gian Van Veen
Nathan Rafferty 5-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Robin Beger 5-2 Connor Hopkins
Niko Springer 5-4 Dom Taylor
Semi Finals
Nathan Rafferty 5-2 Josh Rock
Niko Springer 5-3 Robin Beger
Final
Nathan Rafferty 5-3 Niko Springer
—–ENDS —–
Images: PDC Europe
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