Two players tasted their first event wins of the Foundation Tour on the penultimate day of action, with Lewis Mayes and Joseph Flenley winning the Event 17 & 18 titles in Coventry.
With Mitchell Lawrie and Jack Howarth winning 11 of the first 16 events between them, opportunities for other players to taste victory have been few and far between of late.
But England’s Mayes and Flenley of Wales mixed things up as the final weekend of action got off to a fascinating start.
With Advanced Tour spots for 2025 – as well as World Championship places for Gibraltar later this year – up for grabs, there is plenty on the line this weekend.
And one player to take advantage was Cori Wiltshire, who, despite suffering last-64 and quarter-final defeats, guaranteed his place in both.
With the final two events taking place on Sunday, the race for qualification is heating up. Lawrie and Wiltshire have secured their Advanced Tour places, with Owen Bryceland and Drake Porter likely to join them, although Ethan Pulham and Kaleb Gascoyne will hope to make a late surge.
EVENT 17 SUMMARY
Mayes will be too old for the 2025 Advanced Tour and this year’s World Championship – but he is bowing out of the Foundation Tour in style having won his first JDC title of 2024.
An Advanced Tour player in both 2021 and 2022, the 17-year-old from North-East England was one of the more experienced players in the field – and it showed as he claimed the Event 17 title.
He was a model of consistency throughout the event, his average not dropping below 72.56 throughout, while he also produced the highest average of the competition, throwing a shade over 92 in his last-64 win over Charlie Evans.
Mayes, though, made a sluggish start to the event, as he lost his opening two legs of the day against Aidan Oliver, having to fight back from 2-0 down to stay in the competition.
Once that was out of the way, though, he settled, throwing 92.02 in his 3-0 win over Evans, which included a 13-darter and four ton-plus visits.
One of the matches of the event came in the next round, Mayes beating Flenley 3-2 in the last 32. Both players performed admirably in the match, Mayes throwing four 140s and five further ton-plus scores, and Flenley hitting a 180 and six further tons, before Mayes hit 89 for victory with Flenley waiting on double 16.
Mayes was pushed again in the last 16 as he ran into Lewis Cook. Both players averaged more than 75, neither player was on more than a two-dart finish at the end of each leg, but Mayes advanced 3-1. The key leg was the third, Mayes clinching the only hold of throw in the whole match with a 14-darter, with Cook himself waiting on 49 for a 14-dart leg.
Having earlier fought back from 2-0 down against Oliver, Mayes had to do so again in the quarter-finals. He fell 2-0 down to Fabian Tapner of Wales, with Tapner hitting a brilliant 156 checkout in the second of those legs, before winning three legs on the spin to reach his fifth semi-final of this year’s Foundation Tour.
He quickly followed that by booking his second final of the year as he beat Gascoyne 4-0, the highlight being a pair of 16-darters to open the match, before a 5-0 victory over David Birks in the final meant Mayes finished Event 17 by winning 12 legs in a row.
He averaged a shade under 80 in the final, setting the tone with a 15-darter against the throw in the opening leg, then following it up with a 119 to open the second leg as he doubled his lead.
Another break put Mayes firmly in control, and when he held in 17 darts for 4-0 lead, Birks needed snookers. Mayes showed no signs of weakness, though, and kicked off the fifth leg with a 100 and 140 before sealing his first event win of the year.
His opponent in the final, Birks, can be proud of his efforts. The 16-year-old from Lancashire had not previously made it past the last 16 on this year’s tour, but he played some good darts during the event, notably in his 3-2 win over Ireland’s Jamie French in the last 32, coming through 3-2 which included a 97 checkout.
Quarter-finals:
Kaleb Gascoyne (Eng) 3-0 Kyle Davis (Eng)
Lewis Mayes (Eng) 3-2 Fabian Tapner (Wal)
David Birks (Eng) 3-1 Preston Ingram (Eng)
Jayden Betteridge (Eng) 3-1 Jake Hobbs (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Lewis Mayes (Eng) 4-0 Kaleb Gascoyne (Eng)
David Birks (Eng) 4-2 Jayden Betteridge (Eng)
Final:
Lewis Mayes (Eng) 5-0 David Birks (Eng)
EVENT 18 SUMMARY:
Flenley had reached one final, one semi-final, one quarter-final and a smattering of last-16s on this year’s Foundation Tour heading into the weekend – and his persistence paid off as he bagged his first JDC event win.
The 16-year-old from Bridgend beat Scotland’s Lawrie 5-3 in the final to deny him what would have been a record-breaking seventh Foundation Tour event win in a single year.
It capped a memorable day for the Welshman, who saved his best performance of the event for when it really mattered.
Lawrie showed his class by beating Wiltshire 3-0 and Porter 4-1 in the quarters and semis, respectively, but he was unable to add to his growing medal haul in the final.
The final went with throw until the fifth leg, when Flenley broke the Lawrie throw for a 3-2 lead. He must have feared the worst when Lawrie broke straight back – but in the next leg Flenley checked out 69 with Lawrie waiting on double 4. Flenley then held throw to close out a 5-3 win and one of the finest wins of his young career.
After 3-1 wins over Vinnie Merritt and Kyle Davis early on, Flenley improved throughout the event, going up a gear when he reached the last eight.
Having been broken in the third leg, Flenley trailed 2-1, but he broke back in 17 to draw level and then hit tops at the first time of asking to seal the win.
In the semis, he lost the opening leg against Leo Howard – but did not look back from there, winning the next four, securing his place in the final with a stunning 158 checkout.
Howard deserves credit for his run to the last four, having previously not been past the last 16. His quarter-final display stood out, posting a 76.42 average and hitting a 120 checkout in a 3-0 win against Lilly Wheeler.
Quarter-finals:
Leo Howard (Eng) 3-1 Preston Ingram (Eng)
Joseph Flenley (Wal) 3-2 Mattie Ambage (Eng)
Drake Porter (Eng) 3-2 Kaleb Gascoyne (Eng)
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 3-0 Cori Wiltshire (Eng)
Semi-finals:
Joseph Flenley (Wal) 4-1 Leo Howard (Eng)
Mitchell Lawrie (Sco) 4-1 Drake Porter (Eng)
Final:
Joseph Flenley (Wal) 5-3 Mitchell Lawrie (Sco)
