Mission Recap – Scutt Reaches First PDC Major Quarter-Final

Mission Recap – Scutt Reaches First PDC Major Quarter-Final

Connor Scutt continued his breakthrough 2024 campaign with a run to the quarter-finals of the Players Championship Finals at the weekend.

It was a best run in a PDC major to date for ‘The Sniper’, who picked up wins against Martin Lukeman, Mario Vandenbogaerde and Daryl Gurney to make the final day in Minehead.

On Sunday, Scutt was narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals by Dirk van Duijvenbode, losing 10-9 in a last-leg decider with an average of 98.75.

Ryan Joyce also featured in Sunday’s final day of action as ‘Relentless’ enjoyed yet another deep run in a major event.

Victories over Karel Sedlacek, Cameron Menzies and Martin Schindler took Joyce to the quarter-finals, where he lost 10-5 to the world number one and eventual champion Luke Humphries.

Team Mission had 10 players in the 64-player field for the last major tournament before the PDC World Darts Championship, with Josh Rock, Ritchie Edhouse and Stephen Burton all reaching the second round, whilst Martin Lukeman, Madars Razma, Alan Soutar and James Hurrell bowed out at the first hurdle.

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Team Mission will send a record 13 players to Alexandra Palace in December, after two more players secured their spots at the PDC World Darts Championship through yesterday’s tour card holder qualifier.

Dylan Slevin booked a second consecutive appearance at the Palace with victories over a trio of Dutch players. The Irishman posted 100-plus averages in wins against Jitse Van der Wal and Berry van Peer, before coming through a 7-5 winner in his decisive clash with Martijn Dragt.

Rhys Griffin will cap off his first year as a PDC tour card holder with a World Championship debut after winning through Monday’s qualifier.

The Welshman reeled off three legs on the spin to complete comeback wins over Adam Smith-Neale, Jose De Sousa and Michele Turetta, before racing into a 5-0 lead against Adam Hunt and getting over the line a comfortable 7-2 winner to clinch a first trip to Ally Pally.

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The draw for the 2024/25 PDC World Darts Championship was made on Monday, with Team Mission’s 13-player contingent learning who they will play in their opening matches at Alexandra Palace next month.

Josh Rock enters the action in the second round as the 18th seed and will face the winner of the first-round tie between Karel Sedlacek and Rhys Griffin.

The European champion Ritchie Edhouse is a seed for the first time and takes on either Ian White or Sandro Eric Sosing.

In the first round, Alan Soutar makes his Ally Pally return against German debutant Kai Gotthardt, with the winner to play Masters champion Stephen Bunting in round two.

Madars Razma’s ninth World Championship campaign begins against former Lakeside winner Christian Kist, whilst the Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner Connor Scutt takes on New Zealand’s Ben Robb in the first round.

Ryan Joyce starts his latest Ally Pally bid against Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas, recent Grand Slam finalist Martin Lukeman meets India’s Nitin Kumar, and Stephen Burton faces Dutch debutant Alexander Merkx.

China’s number one Xiaochen Zong faces the German number three Ricardo Pietreczko, whilst Development Tour Order of Merit winner Wessel Nijman goes up against South African ace Cameron Carolissen.

James Hurrell makes his Ally Pally debut against Canada’s Jim Long, with the winner to face three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen in round two, whilst Dylan Slevin takes on Willie O’Connor in an all-Irish first-round clash.

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A busy week of events in the JDC got under way in Gibraltar yesterday with the Junior Darts Open.

The JDC number one Archie Self went the furthest of the Mission Academy players with a run to the last 16, whilst Kyle Davidson, Dylan van Lierop, Kieran Thompson and Mathias Myrvang Isaksen lost out in the last 32.

The action continues with the Luke Littler Legacy Open today (Tuesday), before the JDC World Championship is played down to the final on Wednesday, followed by the JDC World Cup of Darts across two days on Thursday and Friday.

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Six players from Team Mission will be in action at the Mission-sponsored WDF Lakeside World Championships, which starts this Friday.

In the men’s draw, Matt Edgar starts his campaign against Dutch Open champion Jarno Bottenberg on Saturday, before Sweden’s Dennis Nilsson, a semi-finalist at Lakeside 12 months ago, begins his latest title bid against Howard Jones on Monday.

Two-time finalist Rhian O’Sullivan enters the action on Wednesday (December 4) with a second-round clash against either Lerena Rietbergen or Maud Jansson.

Three players from the Mission Academy are set to feature in the boys event. World Masters boys champion Lex Paeshuyse takes on Ralfs Laumanis, Archie Self plays Kendji Steinbach and Balazs Szotak faces Florian Preis.

Picture: PDC

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