The JDC Scholarship players returned to the PDC Development Tour over the weekend in an attempt to climb the order of merit and gain experience on a professional stage.
The JDC Scholarship players returned to the PDC Development Tour over the weekend in an attempt to climb the order of merit and gain experience on a professional stage.
Jakob Kelly impressed throughout the weekend making a last 32 on the second day and recording several whitewash victories in Wigan.
Two second round appearances made for a disappointing opening day for the Colchester thrower, but he much improved on day two.
Wins over Hendrik Eggerman and Fred Box put him into the final 32, where he would lose to eventual semi-finalist Lee Budgen.
Day two was a little tougher for Keelan Kay, where the draw made for a hard-hitting battle for the 17-year-old. He bowed out to the experienced Tom Lonsdale at event 12 after making round two a few hours previous.
In event nine Kay showed tremendous bottle to defeat the aforementioned Lonsdale in the opening round, before losing out to Levy Freuenfelder in a terrific tie.
‘The Lord of the Board’ would cash in his best average of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, an 81.7 three dart average not enough to edge past Ben Cheeseman.
There was a last 16 appearance for Jarred Cole in opening event, as he kept up some excellent averages the Robin Park tennis centre. A 4-2 victory coupled with a 93 average against Belgium’s Brian Raman set up a tie with Luke Humphries.
Despite exiting the competition to Humphries, Cole was able to return to form as he beat Curtis Turner with another 90 plus average in event 10.
The Hertfordshire player struggled to get out of first gear in the opening tournament on Sunday but held his nerve in a last leg decider against Justin Mueller to set him on his way in the final event.
A whitewash victory over Irish star Jordan Boyce set up a meeting with Rhys Griffin. Both players scored heavily in the opening legs, with Griffin taking the advantage. Cole cut the deficit by nailing double 18 but Griffin would add the final touches to a superb display to progress to the last 16.
Jarred Cole is up to 20th in the Development Tour order of merit while Jakob Kelly sits in 51st and Keelan Kay remains just outside the top 100 in 113th.
The JDC Scholars will return to Development Tour action on the 22nd September in Peterborough at the East of England Arena.
You can read full reports of the weekends action at 501Darts.wordpress.com
Article by Josh Green JDC Reporter
11/6/2018
