The Junior Power League returns on Friday, with another mouthwatering set of matches in store as some of the best junior dart players go head-to-head in front of the cameras.
After one round of matches, Ryan Branley and Paige Pauling are the early pacesetters in the boys’ and girls’ events, respectively, but plenty can change over the coming weeks and months.
We take a look at this week’s head-to-heads.
*Lex Paeshuyse v Lewis Cook*
World champion Paeshuyse was a 5-2 winner against Tergel Khurelkhuu last time out, averaging a stunning 94.57. The Belgian trailed 2-1 but back-to-back checkouts of 100 and 122 – the latter to complete a 12-darter – put him on the road to victory. Cook, meanwhile, was incredibly unfortunate not to win a leg against Ben Townley in the battle of the qualifiers despite averaging north of 82.
*Paige Pauling v Rebecca Allen*
Pauling, the 2024 JDC Girls Series champion, stamped her authority on the JPL with a 4-1 win over Yazmine Ruck-Havard last time out, averaging 68.91 and sealing the win with a 17-darter. Allen won by the same scoreline against Lilly Wheeler, with her highlight being a first-leg checkout of 103, and this promises to be an intriguing match between two of the best girl darters around.
*Jayden Walker v Ryan Branley*
Both players go into this one brimming with confidence after tasting victories on the opening night. The in-form Branley enjoyed a 5-0 win against Jack Johnson, producing a 90.54 average, while Walker was a 5-2 winner against Mitchell Lawrie, reeling off three legs on the spin after an even start. Branley has more experience in this type of event but Walker has shown he’s unlikely to be fazed by the occasion.
*Jack Johnson v Archie Self*
Both players go into this match looking for their first win of the JPL – but, in the case of Self, that only tells half of the story. He recorded the highest average on opening night (95.55) but drew his match with Jack Nankervis 4-4. In a high-quality match, Self went 4-1 up with a 14-darter, only for Nankervis to reel off legs of 12, 15 and 15 to seal the draw. Johnson, meanwhile, was well beaten by the excellent Branley and will be looking to kick-start his campaign.
*Lilly Wheeler v Ruby Grey*
Both girls will be determined to put a JPL victory against their name after losing on night one. Wheeler fell to a 4-1 defeat against Rebecca Allen, despite producing a marginally better average, while Grey fell to a 4-2 defeat against Lexi-Jayne Rooksby. One positive for Grey, however, was her combination finishing: the two legs she won came with checkouts of 48 and 52. A victory for either player on Friday would really ignite their JPL campaign.
*Jack Nankervis v Tergel Khurelkhuu*
Both players will go in search of their first JPL win when they meet on Friday – but Nankervis’ opening result must have felt almost as good as a victory. He produced the darting equivalent of a last-minute equaliser against Archie Self, averaging 94.06 as he fought back from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 with legs of 12, 15 and 15 in the highest-quality match of night one. Tergel, meanwhile, can count himself unfortunate to have ran into the juggernaut of Lex Paeshuyse. Tergel averaged 83.16 in his 5-2 defeat – and led 2-1 – but was witness to a ruthless exhibition of finishing from Paeshuyse.
*Lexi-Jayne Rooksby v Yazmine Ruck-Havard*
Rooksby was a 4-2 winner against Ruby Grey last time out and will be looking to make it back-to-back wins against Ruck-Havard. She was beaten 4-1 by Paige Pauling – but it’s difficult to know how much to read into that result given Pauling’s form and quality. One thing that will have encouraged the Welsh girl is the way she took out 128 in the one leg she did win, showing real composure to complete an 18-dart leg.
*Ben Townley v Mitchell Lawrie*
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