Gates Denies Lauby in Event #3

Danny Lauby Jr was aiming for his third consecutive title, and a clean sweep of the three events in Tampa this weekend, but Leonard Gates had other ideas.

Gates defeated Lauby 6-5 to secure his first title of the year, and his seventh tour victory of his career.

Gates’ day began with a below-par first-round defeat of Kelly Meares, but he quickly turned it around, averaging around 96 over the next three rounds, defeating Joe Efter, Kevin Luke, and Event #2 finalist, Gary Mawson along the way. Jeff Springer put up a strong fight in the semi-finals, but Gates was victorious 6-4.

Lauby’s road to the final was similar. He survived a first-round match with Thomas Keller, scraping out a 5-4 victory, before steamrolling George Daniels, Geoff Miller, Chris White, and Nick Linberg, 22-3 with an average around 93 over those four rounds.

The finals matchup set up a rematch of Friday night’s Event #1 final. Gates, who was the runner-up on Friday, managed to flip the script and secure the win. He survived an incredible scoring run by Lauby in legs 6 through 10, and picked up the win in a last leg decider.

Statistically, both players were fairly even during Event #3. Leonard Gates won 72% of legs played, averaging 89.16 along the way, with eight 180s and a 43% checkout success, meanwhile Danny Lauby Jr won 71% on his legs played, averaged 89.60, and had twelve 180s and connected on 42% of his checkouts.

Article by Brian Fraser
July 11, 2021