Scutt Goes Top Of The Challenge Tour

Recap – Scutt Goes Top Of The Challenge Tour

Connor Scutt has moved to the top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit after an impressive weekend of results in Milton Keynes.

The 28-year-old doubled his Challenge Tour title tally with a victory in Event 17 on Friday, beating Tom Sykes 5-3 in the final to clinch the £2,500 top prize.

After reaching the quarter-finals of Event 19 the next day, ‘The Sniper’ reached his second final of the weekend on Sunday.

Scutt posted a 111.98 average in a 5-1 win against Daniel Ayres in the last 16, with 103 and 97 averages in his next two games taking him to the Event 20 decider.

A 5-2 defeat to Christian Kist denied him another title, but the run to the final was enough to see Scutt finish the weekend at the top of the rankings. He leads Wesley Plaisier by £50 with four events of the season to go.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Dominik Gruellich broke new ground on the Challenge Tour with a run to his first semi-final on Friday.

The 22-year-old reeled off six straight wins to reach the final four of Event 17, where his run ended in a defeat to Sykes.

On Saturday, Cam Crabtree enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of Event 18 and recent MODUS Super Series weekly winner Thomas Banks also caught the eye with his best run to date on Sunday, making the last eight of Event 20.

Xiaochen Zong has secured his spot in the PDC World Darts Championship again after winning the inaugural PDC China Championship on Sunday.

‘The Pandaman’ recorded a 96.35 average during a 5-0 whitewash over Yuyi Shao in the group stages and would drop just seven legs on his way to lifting the title.

After edging past Zhiwei Lin 2-1 in sets in the quarter-finals, Zong dominated his next two opponents, beating Xicheng Han 2-0 and Wenqing Liu 3-0 to complete the victory.

The title has also clinched the Chinese ace a spot in the PDC Asian Championship in October. Zong will be amongst the 48-player field competing in Manilla, in the Philippines, from October 17-20.

Team Mission duo Rhian O’Sullivan and Robyn Byrne both made deep runs at the recent Women’s Series weekend in Niedernhausen.

O’Sullivan reached the quarter-finals of Event 13 and the semi-finals of Event 15, whilst Byrne made the final eight in the same two tournaments.

Thomas Banks continued his excellent form with a victory in England Youth Grand Prix 4 in Coventry.

‘The Bulldog’ posted a 100.42 average in a 5-3 triumph over Oliver Haughan in the final, whilst his fellow Mission Academy player Sam Jackson made the quarter-finals.

Balazs Szotak strengthened his bid for a Lakeside debut in December after reaching the last eight of the International WDF Youth Challenge in Germany.

The 14-year-old from Hungary is up to third in the WDF boys rankings with the top four at the cut off on October 28 qualifying for the WDF Boys World Championship.

There was also a quarter-final run for Andras Borbely in the Under-23 Boys event, whilst Wibke Riemann reached the final of the Under-23 Girls competition.

Mission Academy’s Balazs Szotak, Tamara Kovacs, Yorick Hofkens, Andras Borbely and Wibke Riemann were in action at the International WDF Youth Challenge in Germany at the weekend

Several players from Team Mission have tasted success at a local level in recent weeks, including recent ProTour finalist Wessel Nijman, who won the Zwaantje Masters invitational event.

The Development Tour leader averaged 106.26 in a 3-0 victory over Wesley Plaisier in the final, having also beaten fellow PDC tour card holders Danny van Trijp, Gian van Veen and Jeffrey Sparidaans earlier in the day.

Adam Warner continued his recent good form by winning the Scarborough Open, beating Brian Dawson 6-1 in the final to take home the title.

Meanwhile, Ritchie Edhouse picked up a pair of local tournament wins in North Anglesey, and Brett Claydon defeated teenager Harvey Stringer in an all-Mission final of a competition held at the Fordham Royal British Legion.

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