Lauby Lights Up Ontario

by Tom Beresford, CDC Correspondent

Danny Lauby stole the show in Waterdown, Ontario as the 26-year old from Indiana picked up his second CDC title, squeaking out a deciding-leg victory over Joe Huffman in Event #4 on the 2019 Magic Darts Championship Darts Circuit.

Lauby was in fantastic form all day, averaging 89.03 over his 48-leg journey to the trophy and finding himself facing a deciding leg only once until the final (that coming in a first round 5-4 victory over Canada’s Darcy Trenholm that saw him fall behind 3-1 before finding his rhythm and averaging 101.55 over the final five legs to take the match). After the early scare, Danny saw off some experienced players with relative ease, whitewashing Kevin Jinkensen (5-0) and beating Timmy Nicoll (5-3) & Leonard Gates (6-2) to set-up a semifinal clash with David Fatum, who had just knocked out Event #3 champion, Darin Young, in the quarters and was looking to book a spot in his first final since 2017.

When push came to shove, however, the Arizona man had no answer for Lauby’s relentless pressure, managing only one dart at a double in the first four legs as Danny averaged 101 for the match – producing legs of 13, 17, 14, 15, 16 & 13 darts in coasting to his 6-1 victory and a date with Huffman.

For his part, Huffman produced several fantastic displays to reach the ultimate test. ‘BOOM’ enjoyed successes over Donny Joe (5-1), John Part (5-0), Jeremiah Millar (5-4), DJ Sayre (6-3) & Shawn Brenneman (6-4).

In the final, Danny showcased a gritty comeback performance to deny Joe a maiden CDC title. Early on, everything was going the Maryland’s man’s way as he established dominance on the match, racing to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before Lauby finished a 15-dart leg on double-9 to claim a break of throw in what started a three-leg run to level the match – ending with a brilliant checkout of 81 for a 12-darter.

Huffman stopped the rot at that point, pulling out a roof-raising 129 checkout to retake the lead at 5-4, only to then miss five match darts to claim victory in a sloppy 10th leg with Lauby eventually pinning D16 to force a decider.

More drama ensued in the final leg, with match-clinching doubles again eluding a frustrated Joe as he missed two darts to clean up 60 for the match in what would be his final trip to the line of the day as Danny was on hand to take advantage, burying D20 on his third dart to secure victory after having missed the same number for a 160 checkout the visit before.

After securing his second CDC title, Danny Lauby caught up with Anthony Eugenia:

“At 4-1 down, you have to relinquish yourself and just think, It’s alright, you’re down. He only needs two more legs and I’m probably not going to win this match and it just relaxes you. I got a few breaks, he missed a few chances and I just hit the right shots at the right times… Joe’s just so consistent, such a power scorer. Early on, I just couldn’t find the triples. I was down really quick in the first nine darts of a lot of my games today, and I was fortunate enough to take my chances in the final, but I really thought it was over there.”
Lauby concluded, “The PDC World Championship is my dream, and I’ll be playing in all the CDC events and I’m definitely hoping to be there in Vegas. I’m hoping to make it to the (Vegas) stage again and taking it to the bigger players.”

There’s been signs to suggest that Lauby has what it takes to not only win more CDC titles but also take it to the next level: He narrowly missed taking out James Wade at the US Darts Masters in Las Vegas last July then reached the final of CDC Event 9 in Philadelphia, losing out to three-time World Champion, John Part. This past January, Lauby made the long-haul to PDC Qualifying-School in Wigan, England to try his luck at gaining a PDC tour-card. Amazingly, Lauby came within just one victory of securing that PDC card as he reached the Semi-Finals in one of the Q-school events, losing to Scott Baker.

For all the results from event 4, please visit tv.dartconnect.com/matchlist/cdc19me4b