Bryceland Shines and Gibbons Dominates as British Open Youth Finals Are Set
Scotland’s Owen Bryceland will take on England’s Jake Shipley in the BritsOpen Youth final on Sunday, while the girls final pits in-form Macy Gibbons against former WDF World Champion Paige Pauling in an all-English showdown at Bridlington Spa.
Open Youth Darts
Bryceland was the story of the boys’ knockout. “The Bandit” beat in-form Ben Townley 4-1 in the semi-finals with a 96.44 average, the highest of the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Townley averaged 92.38 himself, and still took only a single leg.
Bryceland’s quarter-final was far tighter on the numbers, a 3-1 win over Toby Clements, 84.81 to 83.78.
Benjamin Smith made the loudest noise of the last eight, averaging 93.38 in a 3-1 win over Scotland’s Luke Rossi, but could not reproduce it against Shipley, who beat him 4-1 in the last four.
Shipley’s route was a little more understated than Bryeland’s as he edged out Daniel Stephenson 3-2 in the quarters despite being out-averaged, then dropped only one leg to Smith in the semi-finals.
British Open Girls
Three of the four Girls quarter-finals went to a deciding leg. Gibbons’ did not.
The Coventry player was the class of the field. She whitewashed Olivia Heaton 3-0 in the quarter-finals with an 80.52 average, almost 14 points clear of any other winner in the round, then Lily Blanthorn 4-0 in the semi-finals. She reaches Sunday’s final without dropping a leg across those two matches.
Pauling has had to work harder for her place, surviving a last-leg decider against Lucy Shepherd, 3-2, before beating Taylor Field 4-2 in the last four.
The billing
Both finals take place on stage at Bridlington Spa on Sunday evening, and both promise to be tight affairs, packed with entertainment.
Bryceland looks to be the man to beat in the Youth classification, whilst the Girls final has history. Pauling is the 2024 WDF Girls World Champion and won the 2025 JDC Girls Series. She also beat Gibbons 4-0 in the semi-finals of the 2025 England Classic Girls event on her way to the title.
Will history repeat itself or will Gibbons get her revenge?
Images: Main – Owen Bryceland , (In piece) WDF/Tip Top Pics
