Long lifts sixth CDC crown as Cameron closes in on World Championship return

Jim Long produced a composed surge on Friday night to win the DartConnect Championship in Brownsburg, defeating David Cameron 7-3 in the final to secure his sixth career CDC title.

Long advanced with a 6-1 quarterfinal win over an in-form Nick Linberg, then turned back seventh-seeded Gary Mawson 7-3 in the semifinals before closing out Cameron in the title match. Cameron earned his place in the final by dispatching fifth-seeded Alex Spellman 6–2 and then upsetting top-seeded Adam Sevada 7–3.

The night carried major ranking implications. Cameron’s run to the final makes it virtually impossible for Darryl Christie to catch him for Canada’s top Tour Points spot; it would take Christie winning both remaining events with Cameron exiting in the first round twice. In practical terms, Cameron is all but locked for return to Ally Pally. On the U.S. side, Stowe Buntz sits 21 points behind Sevada in the race for the Jay Tomlinson Trophy, which is awarded to the top overall player on the Tour at the end of the season and also confers the benefit of entering PDC Q-School at Stage 2. Both Buntz and Sevada are already guaranteed World Championship berths but you can bet that neither will let their foot off the gas in pursuit of the Tour Points Championship.

Elsewhere, Larry Butler has slipped outside the top 16 and now risks missing the Continental Cup for the first time other than the year he was sidelined after a heart attack. There are three players within 10 points of the final Cup spot, setting up a tense finish and making every dart critical with only two events to play.

On the stats sheet, Buntz led the field in average at 90.28 over 27 legs, while Cameron topped the 180 chart with 12, three clear of both Long and Mawson. Big finishes lit up the early rounds as Jeremiah Millar and Trevor Buboltz each produced a 170 checkout (Millar’s came in a losing effort to Kiley Edmunds in the last 32).

The weekend continues Saturday in Brownsburg with the A-Z Darts Trophy — a double-in/double-out “Saturday Special,” and the penultimate stop of the 2025 CDC season.

QUARTERFINALS:
Adam Sevada (1) 6-2 Jacob Taylor (8)
David Cameron (4) 6-2 Alex Spellman (5)
Stowe Buntz (2) 5-6 Gary Mawson (7)
Nick Linberg (14) 1-6 Jim Long (6)

SEMIFINALS:
Adam Sevada 3-7 David Cameron
Gary Mawson 3-7 Jim Long

FINAL:
Jim Long 7-3 David Cameron