PDC World Youth Qualifiers

Post by **M H** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:47 pm

THE field of players for the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship has been confirmed following last weekend's Rileys Qualifiers.

The event at Crawley's K2 Centre will see the Last 64 play down to the Final, which will then take place on Thursday May 17 2012 during the Premier League Darts Play-Offs at The O2 in London.

The leading 28 players from the final PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Order of Merit qualified by right to compete in the World Youth Championship, alongside a field of ten International Qualifiers which was completed by Holland's John de Kruijf.

In addition, 26 Rileys Qualifiers have been held across the UK, with hundreds of young players taking part in a bid to win places in the World Youth Championship.

Oxford winner Richard North also qualified for the Speedy Hire UK Open earlier this year, while several players have experience on the Youth Tour, including Marc Evans, Aden Kirk, Daniel King-Morris, Brandon Walsh, Ryan Hogarth, Matt Gallett and Matthew Dicken.

Chester winner Evans, the son of PDC professional Steve, and Norwich qualifier James Hubbard - whose father Vic is a former professional - are hoping to emulate their parents by winning through to compete in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

The finalists of the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship will receive a two-year PDC ProTour Card and an invitation to compete in November's William Hill Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.

The top eight players from the final Youth Tour order of Merit are seeded - with four-time event winner Michael van Gerwen the number one seed, Paul Barham seeded two and Joe Cullen, Shaun Griffiths, Michael Smith, Reece Robinson, Chris Aubrey and Ricky Evans also seeded.

The full list of qualifiers is:
PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Order of Merit - Top 28
1 Michael van Gerwen
2 Paul Barham
3 Joe Cullen
4 Shaun Griffiths
5 Michael Smith
6 Reece Robinson
7 Chris Aubrey
8 Ricky Evans
9 Adam Smith-Neale
10 Co Stompe Jnr
11 Ryan Harrington
12 Adam Hunt
13 Steve Haggerty
14 Josh Jones
15 Dirk van Duijvenbode
16 Curtis Hammond
17 David Coyne
18 Arron Monk
19 Sam Hill
20 Gino Vos
21 Ash Khayat
22 David Pallett
23 Jamie Lewis
24 Jamie Landon
25 Jonathan Mulley
26 Jimmy Hendricks
27 Darren Whittingham
28 Nick Kenny

International Qualifiers
Australia Robbie King
Australia Guy Holland
Ireland Ryan Maher
Canada Shaun Narain
Finland Teemu Harju
Sweden Oskar Lukasiak
Austria Franz Schrammel
Spain Sergio Garcia
Germany Max Hopp
Holland John de Kruijf

Rileys Qualifiers
Aberdeen Jamie Reid
Birkenhead Lee Hodson
Bolton James Hadjar
Bournemouth Joe Hunt
Brighton Benjamin Songhurst
Bristol David Williams
Cardiff Kurt Parry
Chester Marc Evans
Chesterfield Aden Kirk
Colchester Daniel King-Morris
Edinburgh TBC
Exeter Thomas Humphrey
Gillingham Michael Finch
Gloucester Liam Deveries
Hull Leon Bailey
Leicester James Thompson
Norwich James Hubbard
Oxford Richard North
Reading Rhys Dudley
Scunthorpe Brandon Walsh
Stirling Ryan Hogarth
Sunderland Steven Robinson
London, Victoria Nicholas Ellis
Wigan Matt Howard
Wolverhampton Matt Gallett
Worcester Matthew Dicken

Competing players have been issued with a Players' Brief of information via email. Any player who has not received this should contact the PDC Head Office on 08712 501 180.

Competing players must register between 9.30am-11am. The draw will be made at 11am, with the top eight players from the final PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Order of Merit seeded.

All games up to, and including, the semi-finals will be the best of nine legs. The final will be the best of 11 legs.

Prize Fund
Winner £10,000
Runner-Up £5,000
Semi-Finalists £2,500
Quarter-Finalists £1,250
Last 16 Losers £625
In addition, the finalists are invited to compete in the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts as well as being invited to become a PDC ProTour Card Holder for 2012 and 2013, with entry fees paid for.

Post by **Brett** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:25 pm

Hulls winner Leon bailey could be a dark horse. Won a lot of bdo youth titles and playing well for humberside at the minute

Post by **Terry Kenny** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:02 am

Brett wrote:Hulls winner Leon bailey could be a dark horse. Won a lot of bdo youth titles and playing well for humberside at the minute

add ben songhurst to that. plays england youth and county for kent. easily 20 players who could win this, albeit with obvious fav's.