SouLGa Dances His Way Back to the Winner’s Circle in Indianapolis

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Leonard Gates, fresh off his World Seniors Matchplay title, has won the Winmau Blade 6 Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana, cruising through the day with a 31-4 record and besting David Cameron 7-2 in the final. The win is Gates’ second of the season and the final was a rematch of the second-round (and instant classic) match between the two Titans of Tungsten at the Seniors.

Gates was in complete control all day, starting with a 5-0 thrashing of Anthony Romero, followed up with a 6-2 victory over Ryan Vander Weit. He completed his run to the fina with back-to-back whitewashes, 6-0 over Jason Brandon in the quarterfinals and 7-0 over the #1 seed, Alex Spellman, in the semifinals.  Cameron, playing in his second final in as many days, also started his day in dominant fashion, defeating Rick Allred 5-1 with a 102.52 average, before blanking Joey Lynaugh 6-0. In the quarterfinals he won a back-and-forth affair against Danny Lauby 6-4, then overcame a 5-2 deficit to Jacob Taylor in the semifinals, winning the last 5 legs on the trot to secure a 7-5 victory.

As the 2023 Championship Darts Circuit came to a close, three players have booked spots at the 2024 PDC PaddyPower World Darts Championship:

  • Alex Spellman finished as the top American player, and will make his World Championship debut. He is also the winner of the 2023 Jay Tomlinson Trophy – awarded each year to the top-ranked player in the CDC Tour standings.
  • Thanks to a strong final weekend, David Cameron leapt into top spot for the Canadians and will make his second straight appearance in London, looking to improve upon his second-round exit to Danny Noppert last December.
  • The final player to qualify is Stowe Buntz. He was the highest-ranked CDC Tour player not otherwise qualified and will also take the Ally Pally stage for the first time.

Alex Spellman led the way with a 93.36 average, narrowly edging out finalists Leonard Gates and David Cameron. Gates would lead the tournament with 12x 180s and also topped the field with 47% success rate on checkouts.

David Fatum connected on the big fish, checking out a 170 finish against Keith Way in their second round match.

Finals
Leonard Gates (5) 7-2 David Cameron (2)

Semifinals
Leonard Gates (5) 7-0 Alex Spellman (1)
David Cameron (2) 7-5 Jacob Taylor (3)

Quarterfinals
Alex Spellman (1) 6-1 Larry Butler (8)
Leonard Gates (5) 6-0 Jason Brandon (13)
David Cameron (2) 6-4 Danny Lauby (7)
Jacob Taylor (3) 6-4 David Fatum

The top-16 players on the 2023 Championship Darts Circuit will take the stage at the Continental Cup Tour Finals Championship, October 20-21 in New York City, with a berth in the Grand Slam of Darts and the 2024 US Darts Masters on the line. Tickets will be available soon at champdarts.com!

Article by Brian Fraser