The 2021 Championship Darts Circuit season kicked off in Tampa, Florida, with Event 1 for the American players.

Danny Lauby Jr, the third seed in the tournament, won his third career CDC tour event, with a high-quality win in the finals against an on-form Leonard Gates. Lauby won 6-2 in the finals with a 94.65 average, Gates averaged 91.21 in defeat. The win gives Danny Lauby a 3-1 career record versus Leonard Gates.

Lauby Jr cruised through the first three rounds, defeating Kevin Burt 5-0, Paul Achenbach 5-3, and Gino Florian 5-2. He survived a scare in the quarter-finals, falling behind 5-1 against Chris Lim, before winning 5 legs on the spin, and winning the match 6-5. In the semi-finals, he met his Team USA teammate from the 2020 World Cup, the #2 seed, Chuck Puleo. Lauby, the reigning Continental Cup champion, would break a 3-3 tie, dominating the last 3 legs, to win the match 6-3 with an average of 90.33.

Lauby averaged 86.31 over the course of the event, with nine 180s and a 36% checkout success.

Gates defeated Chris Cherry 5-0 in the opening round, before surviving a scare of his own in the second round, losing the first 4 legs against Bruce Robbins, before winning the next 5 straight, and surviving 3 match darts in the last leg. After that, Gates defeated John Steinhofer 5-1 in the third round, Jake Womack 6-0 in the quarter-finals, and an out-of-sorts Darin Young, the top seed in the tournament, 6-3 in the semi-finals.

Gates had the highest average for the event at 88.59. He also had eight 180s on the night.

Jeremiah Millar recorded a 170 out during his second round loss to Alex Reyes.

Event 2 takes place July 10, beginning at 3:00 pm EST.

Article by Brian Fraser
July 9, 2021

Canadian locations remain unconfirmed amid continued COVID restrictions.

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