Paige Pauling made a stunning start to her Cue & Dart World Girls Series defence as she won both events on the opening weekend to take an early lead at the top of the standings.
The 16-year-old from England beat Ireland’s Rebecca Allen in both event finals to make an early statement in this year’s series.
Including round-robin play, Pauling won all 17 matches she played across the weekend, but Allen deserves enormous credit for pushing her in both finals.
In Event 1, Pauling was a 4-2 winner in the final, coming back from 2-1 down as Allen broke her throw in the second leg. She had earlier beaten Evie Strong 3-0, Lucy Shepherd 3-1 and Natalie Baxter 3-1 in the knockout stage after dominating her group with five wins from five.
In Event 2, Pauling was pushed all the way by Allen in the final, eventually winning 4-3 having trailed 3-1.
Allen hit an 88 checkout to break in the opening leg, before holding twice, only for Pauling to show real character alongside her immense talent to win three legs on the spin including a 14-darter.
On her way to the final, Pauling beat Bethany Stones, Lucy Shepherd and Yazmine Ruck-Havard all by scores of 3-0, throwing an impressive 81.98 average in her semi-final win over the latter.
Allen also enjoyed an excellent run to the final, seeing off compatriot Brooke Warren 3-0, Ruby Grey 3-1 and Lexi-Jayne Rooksby by the same scoreline.
RESULTS:
Event 1:
Final:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 4-2 Rebecca Allen (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 3-1 Natalie Baxter (Eng)
Rebecca Allen (Ire) 3-0 Yazmine Ruck-Havard (Wal)
Event 2:
Final:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 4-3 Rebecca Allen (Ire)
Semi-finals:
Paige Pauling (Eng) Yazmine Ruck-Havard (Wal)
Rebecca Allen (Ire) Lexi-Jayne Rooksby (Eng)
Rankings:
Paige Pauling (Eng) 8 points
Rebecca Allen (Ire) 6 points
Yazmine Ruck-Havard (Wal) 4 points
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