At the tender age of 8, Kai stands as the youngest member of Team 360. Known as Kai ‘On Fire’ Tiffen, he first picked up darts at a mere one-and-a-half years old and joined a darts academy at the age of three.
Kai made his debut on the county stage at the age of six and was swiftly recognized by the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC). Displaying remarkable skill, Kai has achieved 20+ averages on stage, with his first 180 achieved at the age of 3 on a smaller board and at 5 on a regulation-sized board.
Notably, Kai secured victory in The Wheatsheaf darts open in Sunderland, triumphing over 28 adult competitors, including seasoned county players. His remarkable performance included consecutive 180s, a 3-0 win against a top regional player, and a path to victory that saw him drop just two games along the way.
Steve Brown, Founder and Chairman, commented “I first met Kai & his dad on a trip to the North East. His talent was obvious immediately. Due to his age we decided to put him in the JDC Cadet program.
Since then, he has continued to improve at a rapid rate and has really impressed Cadet mentor Jamie Cooper who recommended that he should be involved with the prestigious Team360 even at the age of only 8!”
It was a busy Easter weekend for Team360 as our budding darters took to the oche to show their
mettle. Adam Dee has kicked on since his WDF Boy’s World Championship final appearance at
Lakeside in December and he reached another ADC Vault semi-final on Saturday.
Having averaged 88.41 in his quarter-final whitewash of Killian McCormack he would add another 80
plus average en route to the final four. In a promising weekend for the Irishman, he would also reach
the final of the ADC Open Series, defeating former PDC Pro Mick McGowan in the semi-finals.
The ADC proved to be a popular choice over the weekend with Aiden O’Hara also in attendance. The
youngster is vying to represent his country at the JDC World Cup later this year and added another
Vault win to his ever-growing reputation. After recording a 91 average in the group stage an 82 with
four maximums was enough to seal the title.
O’Hara would double his tally for the week on Friday as he went and won yet another vault event,
this time upping his top average to 97 as he picked up a second trophy of the week. There were
doubles success for Ryan Branley as he picked up some pairs wins which included a high average of
102.
‘The Lord of the Board’, Keelan Kay, has been plying his trade on the MODUS Super Series but got some all-important practice in at the Frome Open as he was eventually defeated by tour card holder Christian Perez in the last 16.
Aiden O’Hara has hit the headlines since making the jump to Team360 a few weeks back, confirming a brace of tournament wins last week and he added another ADC Open Series semi-final to his ever growing reputation this week. The winner of that competition was fellow Team360 star Adam Dee,
the young Irish pair are attracting quite some attention in their homeland and after edging out O’Hara in the semis an 86 average confirmed the win for Dee.
Cayden Smith, Ryan Branley and Hannah Meek all represented their county at the weekend, with
Meek and Smith coming up short despite solid displays. Branley would average in the mid 90’s in his
4-2 win, another hugely impressive performance from the North-East youngster.
Prior to her exploits at county, Meek would provide two last 32 runs on the JDC Foundation tour, a
series that has proved to be a popular stomping ground for our Team360 members. There would also
be a pair of last 32 runs for Fabian Tapner as well as a third round outing for Rebecca Allen.
But the headlines went to Cori Wiltshire as he reached a final and a semi-final on his return to
Foundation Tour action. His opening tournament saw him reach the final dropping just two legs
before an eventual defeat to Jack Howarth. It would be Howarth who would again be in his way in the final event of weekend as he reached the final four, but despite the loss is handily placed in the order of merit.
Cayden Smith also added his name to the roll of honour as he captured an elusive JDC Advanced Tour title over the weekend. Having reached the semi-finals in the opening event on Saturday afternoon, Smith went into Sunday’s finale full of confidence.
He produced an 84 average to see of Daan Toxopeus in the quarter-finals before holding his nerve to
defeat Daniel Stephenson in a decider. His crowning moment then came against Kieran Thompson,
edging a back-and-forth encounter with both averages close to being identical!
Smith’s success also saw quarter-final runs for Aidan O’Hara and Nico Bado, who was recently
crowned Gibraltar’s young sportsman of the year! It was strong weekend overall for Bado who
maintains his top 10 place with a further quarter-final and last 16 run.
O’Hara showed terrific consistency throughout the weekend by making two finals and two quarter finals. The young Irishman was oh so close against Archie Self in the sixth event of the series, missing
championship darts against the former tour winner. Self would again be his nemesis in the final
match of the weekend, as O’Hara could do little to stop Self claiming another title having averaged
92.
There was further representation for Team360 in the shape of Jack Nankervis and Ryan Branley.
After strong starts to their JDC season, both added further final four runs to their CV and maintained
their places in the top ten of the order of merit. Away from JDC competition, Nankervis also had an
86 average in a 4-0 Super league victory.
It was a good week for Cori Wiltshire as he claimed glory at Brown’s Bar and followed his win up just
days later with another final appearance. Having battled through deciders with Ryan Shipp and Zach
Godber, he sealed his win in style with a magnificent 111 checkout.
Our final piece of news comes from the international scene as Hannah Meek once again donned the
red and white of England to take on the home nations. Meek whitewashed her Welsh opponent 3-0
before being edged out in a deciding leg by Scotland.
Cori Wiltshire made a foundation tour final on his return to JDC competition, pushing Mitchell Lawrie
close in the final. Wiltshire had earlier averaged 85 in whitewashing Dylan Moss, but despite keeping
cool under pressure, was just a step off the impressive Lawrie.
Following a final four outing in event 13, Wiltshire would again make the final on Sunday afternoon.
He would go even closer to that elusive foundation tour title after defeating Lewis Mayes in the
semis and facing Joshua Machin in the final. In a big game for both the nerves would show, with
Wiltshire reeling off three straight legs to take it to a decider where he narrowly fell short.
There was always positive news from the Fabian Tapner camp as he reached a quarter-final in
Coventry. The young Welshman reeled off four straight whitewash wins before being halted by
Lewis Cook in a decider. Tapner would also add another last 16 run to his repertoire in a positive
weekend in the West Midlands.
Hannah Meek chalked up another couple of wins on the PDC Women’s Series in Milton Keynes. After
losing out to former world champion Mikuru Suzuki in the opener, Sunday would prove to be a much
more profitable day for Meek. She would defeat Sophie Hadley 4-3 in event seven, before averaging
68 in defeating Debbie McBride just a few hours later!
Away from PDC and JDC action it was a solid weekend for Riley Rees-Tucker. He averaged 75 in a
youth county appearance on Sunday whilst also impressing on his Wednesday night league, a near
90 average a high checkout of 160 keeping the local scene on high alert. It would be a similar story
for Connor Hopkins who confirmed a 3-0 win on his youth county return.
Cori Wiltshire reached the final of the Thursday night round robin in Bristol, losing out to
JDC chairman Steve Brown in the final. Having kept his averages modest in the opening
rounds Wiltshire found an 80 average in his quarter-final win and then upped it further
to 84 to see off John Brown in the final four. He would push Brown senior hard in the
final, losing out in a deciding leg with Brown taking out 117.
It was a big weekend of county action with many of the team being selected to
represent in senior and youth action. Hannah Meek recorded a near 70 average in a 3-1
win whilst Cayden Smith took out 114 to win on his senior county return in the West
Midlands.
Conor Hopkins was edged out in a decider, but there was joy for Riley Rees-Tucker who
averaged 89 in a spectacular 3-1 win for his county. Elsewhere Keelan Kay was a
runner-up in local competition down in the South-West with Jack Nankervis taking a 4-2
win in SuperLeague.
Finally, Aidan O’Hara reached a final on his return to the Irish ranking event scene.
Consistent mid-70’s averages saw him cruise into the semi-finals where he would
defeat Callum Coade. He would up his level to 78 average against former team-mate
Sean McKeon in what was a fantastic final, the latter eventually sealing it in a decider.
—–ENDS—–
Words: Josh Green and Winmau
