Mission Darts is pleased to announce the signing of the emerging Irish talent Jack Caulfield.
The 15-year-old from Waterford is the first player from the Republic of Ireland to join the Mission Academy, having caught the eye with some impressive performances on home soil during the last 18 months.
‘The Jackhammer’ currently sits in second place in the JDC Volts Series 1 Irish rankings, winning six titles in events held in Kilkenny and Carlow, whilst the teenager has also made his mark in the senior ranks finishing fifth in the ADC Vault 11 Ireland rankings with seven tournament wins.
Caulfield has his sights set on earning a place in the Irish team for the JDC World Cup of Darts in Gibraltar, with the final two qualifying events taking place in Dublin this weekend.
The four-player line ups for the Ireland A and Ireland B teams will be confirmed following the last two events on Saturday, with the top four on the Order of Merit after Event 9 making up the A team, and then the top 16 players on the JDC Academy rankings playing off for the four spots in the B team. Caulfield is in sixth place on 35 points, just three points behind Eoin Roche, who currently occupies the fourth and final spot.
Caulfield has also made an impression in Irish National Darts Organisation (INDO) events this year. At the recent INDO Gold Cup weekend, he reached the semi-finals of the Players Championships Division A event and a trio of quarter-finals in the Gold Cup Men's, Gold Cup Boys KO and Irish Men's Ranking competitions.
In April, Caulfield captained the Waterford youth team to the All Irelands semi-finals without losing a game himself all weekend, with his county's best-ever run in the tournament ending in a sudden-death leg defeat against Westmeath. He also stepped up to the senior ranks and represented the Men's A team during their run to the All Irelands quarter-finals.
On signing for Mission, Caulfield said: “I’m very happy to be signing with Mission. I started taking my darts more seriously at the start of last year and now I’m playing almost every night of the week!
“I’ve seen how successful Irish players like Robyn Byrne and Dylan Slevin have been since joining Mission, qualifying for TV events and winning titles, and I believe with Mission’s support I can achieve lots of things too.”
Darryl Fitton, Mission’s player development manager, added: “I’m thrilled to have Jack coming on board with us at Mission. He’s the first Irish player to join our Academy, but I don’t think he will be the last!
“The Irish darts scene is really exciting with lots of players coming through and Jack is one who has caught my eye over the last six months, winning lots of titles in the ADC Vault events in Ireland.”
