Gates Secures MSG Return with U.S. Darts Masters Qualifier Victory

Leonard Gates will return to the Madison Square Garden stage in June after winning the CDC U.S. Darts Masters Qualifier in Niagara Falls, New York.

The number three seed, who had struggled to find his best form throughout the weekend, produced a clinical run when it mattered most, dropping just ten legs across six matches on his way to the title.

Gates came through the final stages in commanding fashion, defeating Charlie Harrison 5-1 in the quarterfinals before accounting for B.J. Pollock by the same scoreline in the semifinals.

He then completed the job with a 5-3 win over Brad Farley in the final, securing his fourth career appearance at the U.S. Darts Masters.

Farley, now in his second year as a CDC Tour Card holder, continued to impress with a strong run to the final. He edged Kiley Edmunds 5-3 in the quarterfinals before producing a dominant 5-1 semifinal win over Fred Krueger to set up his meeting with Gates.

Edmunds had earlier delivered one of the day’s standout results, whitewashing Adam Sevada 5-0 in the Last 16. Sevada had been the hottest hand of the weekend after claiming back-to-back CDC Tour titles, and despite his qualifier exit, he remains the odds-on favorite to return to the MSG stage as the top American on the CDC Tour Points List after next month’s Philadelphia events.

For Gates, though, the qualifier belonged to a player who found his range at exactly the right time, rounding off the Niagara Falls weekend with a place at the 2026 U.S. Darts Masters.

Quarterfinals
Kiley Edmunds 3-5 Brad Farley
Jimmie Jones 1-5 Fred Krueger
B.J. Pollack 5-4 Joe Chaney
Leonard Gates (3) 5-1 Charlie Harrison

Semifinals
Brad Farley 5-1 Fred Krueger
B.J. Pollock 1-5 Leonard Gates

Final
Brad Farley 3-5 Leonard Gates

Sevada Survives, Then Soars to A-Z Darts Duel Title

Adam Sevada continued his dream start to the 2026 CDC Tour season on Saturday, claiming back-to-back titles with victory in the A-Z Darts Duel in Niagara Falls, New York.

The top seed followed up Friday’s Winmau Darts Championship success by coming through a 99-player field once again, defeating Canada’s Brayden Hall 7-2 in Saturday’s showpiece.

Hall enjoyed a breakout run in just his second career CDC Tour event, reaching his first final with wins over Ross Snook, Garrett French and third seed David Cameron.

However, Sevada proved too strong in the final, averaging 97 to complete a dominant finish to a day that had started with a major scare.

The American survived a remarkable 22 match darts from Ram Guevara, Jr. in their Last-16 clash, eventually edging through a dramatic 6-5 contest. That escape proved to be the turning point in Sevada’s day, as he averaged 82 in his quarterfinal win over Nick Linberg, 92 in his semifinal victory over Danny Young, and then 97 in the final against Hall.

Sevada’s 6-1 quarterfinal win over Linberg was followed by a 7-4 semifinal success against Young, who matched his deepest run in a CDC Tour event and produced his best showing since Event #7 of the 2025 season.

In the bottom half of the draw, Hall battled past Ross Snook 6-5 in the Last 16 before seeing off Garrett French 6-4 in the quarterfinals. He then claimed the biggest win of his young CDC career, defeating Cameron 7-5 to reach the final.

French and Jeremiah Millar also enjoyed notable runs to the quarterfinals, turning in their best CDC Tour performances since 2024. French edged tenth seed Kiley Edmunds 6-5 in the Last 16, while Millar defeated Tyler Rettie before falling to Cameron in the quarterfinals.

Elsewhere, Jeff Smith produced the highest average of the day with 87.79, while Cameron fired in a field-leading nine 180s.

Sevada’s back-to-back titles have put him in a commanding position in the race for the US Darts Masters. The top American and top Canadian players on the CDC Tour Points List after Event Four in Philadelphia will earn berths in the US Darts Masters and North American Championship at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in June.

With two events remaining, Sevada is now the clear favorite to secure the American berth. For him to be overtaken, another American would need to win both events in Philadelphia next month and finish with a better leg differential.

Last 16
Adam Sevada (1) 6-5 Ram Guevara, Jr
Nick Linberg (8) 6-4 Joey Lynaugh (9)
Mike Scarborough 1-6 Danny Young (13)
Fred Krueger 6-4 Scott Estle
Brayden Hall 6-5 Ross Snook
Garrett French 6-5 Kiley Edmunds (10)
David Cameron (3) 6-2 Ronald Sargent
Tyler Rettie 1-5 Jeremiah Millar

Quarterfinals
Adam Sevada 6-1 Nick Linberg
Danny Young 6-3 Fred Krueger
Brayden Hall 6-4 Garrett French
David Cameron 6-3 Jeremiah Millar

Semifinals
Adam Sevada 7-4 Danny Young
Brayden Hall 7-5 David Cameron

Final
Adam Sevada 7-2 Brayden Hall

Sevada Edges Buntz to Claim Winmau Darts Championship Crown

Adam Sevada claimed his ninth CDC Tour title on Friday night, edging out Stowe Buntz 7-6 in a dramatic Winmau Darts Championship final in Niagara Falls, New York.

The top seed came through a 99-player field to take the Event One title, drawing level with Buntz on nine career CDC Tour titles after denying the number two seed in a deciding-leg showpiece.

Sevada made a dream start to his campaign, sweeping aside Albert Anstey 6-0 in the Last 16 before accounting for Michael Nguyen 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Nguyen’s run marked a notable breakthrough, with the American reaching his first CDC Tour quarterfinal.

The eventual champion then survived a major semifinal test against Jeff Smith, prevailing 7-6 after the Canadian missed two match darts in a gripping last-leg decider.

Smith impressed in his first CDC Tour appearance in a year, defeating Marco Gonthier 6-3 in the Last 16 before dispatching 12th seed Jason Roker 6-2 to reach the semifinals.

Buntz progressed through the bottom half of the draw, opening the final stages with a 6-3 win over Charlie Harrison before edging Doug Boehm 6-5 in the quarterfinals.

He then produced a 7-3 semifinal win over Gary Mawson, who had earlier whitewashed third seed David Cameron 6-0 in a standout quarterfinal display.

The final brought together the top two seeds and two of the CDC’s most successful modern-era performers, with Sevada and Buntz both looking to gain the upper-hand in the race to New York in June.

It was Sevada who prevailed, taking the title in a deciding leg to cap off a superb day which also saw him lead the statistical charts. The American posted an 88.66 average across multiple matches — the highest of the day — and fired in a field-leading nine 180s.

Buntz and Smith were close behind in the maximum count, each landing eight 180s during their runs to the final and semifinals respectively.

Sevada’s victory also gives him the early advantage in the race for the US Darts Masters, putting him in pole position as the leading American on the CDC Tour Points List after Event One.

Smith, meanwhile, sits as the top Canadian after his semifinal return. The top American and top Canadian players on the CDC Tour Points List after Event Four in Philadelphia will earn berths in the US Darts Masters and North American Championship at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden in June.

Last 16
Adam Sevada (1) 6-0 Albert Anstey
Michael Nguyen 6-2 Mike Scarborough
Jeff Smith 6-3 Marco Gonthier
Tim Craft 2-6 Jason Roker (12)
Stowe Buntz (2) 6-3 Charlie Harrison
Doug Boehm (7) 6-0 Brayden Hall
David Cameron (3) 6-2 John Schaumann
Gary Mawson (6) 6-2 Tim Neal

Quarterfinals
Adam Sevada 6-2 Michael Nguyen
Jeff Smith 6-2 Jason Roker
Stowe Buntz 6-5 Doug Boehm
David Cameron 0-6 Gary Mawson

Semifinals
Adam Sevada 7-6 Jeff Smith
Stowe Buntz 7-3 Gary Mawson

Final
Adam Sevada 7-6 Stowe Buntz

Madhoo Returns to Winner’s Circle with Event #3 Triumph in Panama

Norman Madhoo ended his long wait for another Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean Tour title on Sunday, defeating Dean Persad 6-1 in the Event #3 final in Panama City.

The Guyanese veteran, who made four consecutive finals to close out the 2025 CDLC season but came up short in all four, broke through in emphatic fashion to claim his first tour title since 2024.

Madhoo’s title run included a 6-1 quarterfinal win over Costa Rica’s Guillermo Soto before a statement 6-4 semifinal victory over Jesus Salate, ending the Argentine’s remarkable CDLC winning streak.

Salate had entered Event #3 seeking a third consecutive title in Panama and a fifth straight CDLC crown dating back to 2025. Instead, the top seed suffered his first CDLC defeat since Event #4 of the 2025 season, when he also fell in the semifinals — on that occasion to Rashad Sweeting.

The quarterfinals featured a rematch of Saturday’s Event #2 final, with Salate edging 2025 World Cup of Darts teammate Victor Guillin 6-4 to keep his weekend sweep bid alive. However, Madhoo halted the run one round later, holding off the Event #1 and Event #2 champion to reach another final.

Persad continued his own impressive rise, building on his first CDLC quarterfinal appearance in Event #2 by going two steps further on Sunday. The Trinidadian defeated Brazil’s Anderson Viera de Sousa 6-4 in the quarterfinals before seeing off fellow Trinidadian and Event #1 finalist, Joshua Balfour, 6-3 in the semifinals to reach his first CDLC final.

Balfour had earlier produced one of the day’s notable quarterfinal results, defeating second seed Rashad Sweeting 6-3. Sweeting still finished with the top average of the day at 77.47, while Salate led the 180 count with six maximums.

It was a stronger day overall for the seeded players, with five of the top eight advancing to the quarterfinals. The notable absence was Madhoo’s fellow Guyanese standout and former World Cup teammate Sudesh Fitzgerald, who fell in the Last 16 for the third straight event as his 2026 campaign endured a nightmare opening weekend.

For Madhoo, though, Event #3 delivered the long-awaited breakthrough that eluded him at the end of last season. After four straight runner-up finishes to close 2025, the Guyanese star returned to the winner’s circle in Panama and closed the opening weekend of the 2026 CDLC Tour with a statement victory.

Results

Quarterfinals
Jesus Salate (1) 6-4 Victor Guillin (8)
Norman Madhoo (4) 6-1 Guillermo Soto (5)
Rashad Sweeting (2) 3-6 Joshua Balfour
Dean Persad 6-4 Anderson Viera de Sousa

Semifinals
Jesus Salate 4-6 Norman Madhoo
Joshua Balfour 3-6 Dean Persad

Final
Norman Madhoo 6-1 Dean Persad

Salate Storms Past Guillin to Complete Panama Double

Jesus Salate continued his dominant start to the 2026 Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean Tour on Saturday, defeating 2025 World Cup of Darts teammate Victor Guillin 6-1 in the Event #2 final in Panama City.

The top seed backed up his Event #1 title with another commanding run through the 75-player field, dropping just three legs from the quarterfinals through the final before claiming a second straight title of the weekend.

The victory also extends Salate’s remarkable CDLC winning streak to four consecutive titles dating back to 2025, further strengthening his position at the top of the early-season race.

Salate opened the final stages with a 6-0 whitewash of eighth seed Artur Valle before producing a 6-2 semifinal win over James Walkin, who had advanced to the last four with a 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Jonathan Quiros. His toughest test came earlier in the day, when Costa Rica’s Alex Gutierrez pushed the eventual champion to a deciding leg in the Last 32 before Salate survived to keep his title bid alive.

On the other side of the draw, Guillin delivered a strong knockout run of his own. After surviving a last-leg decider against Rashad Sweeting in the Last 16, the Argentine defeated Trinidad’s Dean Persad 6-1 in the quarterfinals and then ended Guillermo Soto’s run with a 6-3 semifinal win.

The final brought together two familiar faces, with Salate and Guillin having represented Argentina together at the 2025 BetVictor World Cup of Darts. The duo famously thrilled the crowd at Frankfurt’s Eissporthalle last year by winning their group on debut and advancing to the knockout round, but it was Salate who controlled Saturday’s all-Argentine final, running out a 6-1 winner to complete another dominant title charge.

It was a difficult day for the seeded players overall, with only three of the top eight reaching the quarterfinals. Sweeting, one of the players expected to contend deep into the event, struggled to find top form before falling to Guillin in the Last 16.

Soto, meanwhile, continued his strong start to the 2026 campaign by reaching a second consecutive semifinal. The Costa Rican has rediscovered the form that proved elusive toward the end of last season and has quickly established himself as one of the most consistent performers of the opening weekend.

Trinidad’s Dean Persad also enjoyed a breakthrough day, reaching his first CDLC quarterfinal before bowing out to Guillin.

Salate led the statistical charts as well as the results sheet, finishing the day with a tournament-best 82.08 average and a field-leading seven 180s. Guyana’s Norman Madhoo posted the second-highest average of the event at 77.82, while Walkin and Brazil’s Anderson Viera De Sousa each fired in five maximums.

Guillin produced the highest checkout of the day, taking out 136 during his run to the final.

Weekend 1 of the 2026 CDLC Tour concludes Sunday with Event #3 in Panama City, beginning at 1:00 PM local time / 2:00 PM US Eastern.

Results

Quarterfinals
Jesus Salate (1) 6-0 Artur Valle (8)
James Walkin 6-3 Jonathan Quiros
Victor Guillin 6-1 Dean Persad
Guillermo Soto (6) 6-3 Joshua Balfour

Semifinals
Jesus Salate 6-2 James Walkin
Victor Guillin 6-3 Guillermo Soto

Final
Jesus Salate 6-1 Victor Guillin

Balfour and Walkin Power Trinidad and Tobago to BetVictor World Cup of Darts

Joshua Balfour and James Walkin delivered a dominant final performance in Panama City, defeating Rashad Sweeting and Lorenzo Deveaux of the Bahamas 10-1 to win the CDLC BetVictor World Cup of Darts Qualifier and book Trinidad and Tobago’s place in the 2026 BetVictor World Cup of Darts.

The victory sends Balfour and Walkin to the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, where they will represent Trinidad and Tobago at the Professional Darts Corporation’s BetVictor World Cup of Darts from June 11-14.

The qualifier featured 28 teams representing 12 countries, beginning with round-robin group play before the top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout rounds. By the end of the night, it was Trinidad and Tobago standing tall, with Balfour and Walkin capping their campaign with a clinical display against the first-time finalist Bahamian pairing.

Both teams were appearing in a World Cup Qualifier final for the first time, but the Trinidad duo settled into the occasion quickly. After taking the opening two legs, Balfour and Walkin briefly saw the Bahamas get on the board in the third, but that proved to be their only concession of the match. From there, Trinidad and Tobago reeled off eight straight legs to complete a 10-1 victory in 47 minutes.

Balfour and Walkin averaged 67.91 as a team, compared with 65.41 for Sweeting and Deveaux, and controlled the scoreboard throughout the contest. Their strongest legs came in Leg 2 and Leg 10, both won in 18 darts with 83.50 leg averages, while Leg 5 was a 17-dart hold that helped push the lead to 4-1 and fully swing the final in their favor.

Sweeting, who became one of the breakout stories of the 2025 World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, had been solid throughout the day alongside Deveaux, but the Bahamian challenge went off the boil in the final. The Bahamas pairing managed just one leg despite several competitive visits, while Balfour and Walkin repeatedly found enough scoring and finishing pressure to keep the match moving in one direction.

Balfour also gained a measure of revenge along the way. In the quarterfinals, he and Walkin edged Argentina’s Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin 5-4, eliminating the reigning qualifier champions and turning the tables on Salate, who had beaten Balfour in the final of the CDLC Tour kickoff event the previous day.

Salate and Guillin had lifted this title in 2025 before making an immediate impression on the World Cup stage, thrilling the crowd at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt by winning their group on debut and advancing to the knockout round. Their title defense in Panama City ended in a last-leg quarterfinal, but only after Balfour and Walkin survived one of the tournament’s defining matches.

That narrow win over Argentina proved to be the key hurdle. After sweeping Brazil’s Roberto Wentz and Claudio Domingues 5-0 in the Last 16, the Trinidad pair survived the quarterfinal thriller against Salate and Guillin before defeating Chile’s Mauricio Carcamo and George Patterson 8-4 in the semifinals. Once in the final, Balfour and Walkin produced their most complete performance of the tournament.

Sweeting and Deveaux also earned their place in the final with a strong knockout run. The Bahamians opened with a 5-1 win over Costa Rica’s Alex Gutierrez and Nelson Hernandez, then defeated fellow Bahamas representatives Nelson Rahming and Navarro Bastian 5-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they knocked out 2024 qualifier champions Sudesh Fitzgerald and Norman Madhoo of Guyana, 8-5, to secure their place in the title match.

Fitzgerald and Madhoo’s title defense ended one step short of the final, while Argentina’s reign as defending qualifier champions ended in a quarterfinal deciding leg. The depth of the field was on display across the knockout bracket, with four Last-16 matches going the full distance, including Jamaica’s Michael Pinnock and Vasseon Roye edging Costa Rica’s Guillermo Soto and Jafet Vanegas 5-4, Guyana’s Christopher Lochan and Luis Ramirez-Merlano surviving Panama’s Barry Snyder and Jaime Cerrada 5-4, and Chile’s Carcamo and Patterson defeating Costa Rica’s Jonathan Quiros and Ernesto Jimenez by the same score.

But the night belonged to Trinidad and Tobago.

With a first-time finalist on each side of the stage, Balfour and Walkin seized the moment, powered through the final, and claimed the World Cup ticket with authority. The 10-1 scoreline left no doubt, and Trinidad and Tobago will now carry the CDLC banner to Frankfurt in June.

Knockout Results

Last 16
Rashad Sweeting/Lorenzo Deveaux def. Alex Gutierrez/Nelson Hernandez, 5-1
Nelson Rahming/Navarro Bastian def. Michael Rivas/Mikhael Achong, 5-0
Sudesh Fitzgerald/Norman Madhoo def. David Alzola/Kimberli Rivas, 5-3
Michael Pinnock/Vasseon Roye def. Guillermo Soto/Jafet Vanegas, 5-4
Christopher Lochan/Luis Ramirez-Merlano def. Barry Snyder/Jaime Cerrada, 5-4
Mauricio Carcamo/George Patterson def. Jonathan Quiros/Ernesto Jimenez, 5-4
Joshua Balfour/James Walkin def. Roberto Wentz/Claudio Domingues, 5-0
Jesus Salate/Victor Guillin def. Samuel Marcelo de Olivera/Anderson Viera de Sousa, 5-1

Quarterfinals
Rashad Sweeting/Lorenzo Deveaux def. Nelson Rahming/Navarro Bastian, 5-2
Sudesh Fitzgerald/Norman Madhoo def. Michael Pinnock/Vasseon Roye, 5-2
Mauricio Carcamo/George Patterson def. Christopher Lochan/Luis Ramirez-Merlano, 5-1
Joshua Balfour/James Walkin def. Jesus Salate/Victor Guillin, 5-4

Semifinals
Rashad Sweeting/Lorenzo Deveaux def. Sudesh Fitzgerald/Norman Madhoo, 8-5
Joshua Balfour/James Walkin def. Mauricio Carcamo/George Patterson, 8-4

Final
Joshua Balfour/James Walkin def. Rashad Sweeting/Lorenzo Deveaux, 10-1