Young Claims Sixth CDC Crown

Denies Jeff Smith’s Bid for Glory in His First CDC Event

by Tom Beresford, CDC Correspondent

Darin Young claimed his sixth Championship Darts Corporation title on Saturday evening by securing event number 3 of the Magic Darts Championship Darts Circuit in Waterdown, Ontario.

For Young, it’s been an almost perfect start to 2019 on the CDC Tour. The Pennsylvania-based ace has reached three finals out of three events, winning two of them. Interestingly, Young has faced Canadian-based players in all three of those finals: Dave Richardson in Event #1 (a 6-3 victory), then Ontario’s Jim Long snatched Event #2, coming from 5-0 behind to defeat Young and denying him an opening weekend double.

In the final of event three, Young enjoyed a fantastic 6-0 whitewash over the 2018 PDC North American Darts Championship winner, Jeff Smith, as ‘Big Daddy’ saved his best performance of the day for last.

Darin produced a fabulous display to overcome New Brunswick’s Smith, a former BDO World Championship Finalist, kicking things off with a terrific 124 finish in the opening leg that was closely followed by another three-figure checkout as he pulled out a 113 finish to move 2-0 ahead. Jeff had no answer for the American as Darin then reeled off legs of 18, 15, 18 & 14 to crush Smith’s dream of claiming victory in his first-ever CDC appearance.

Young was consistently strong all day, producing victories over Scott Estle (5-1), Kevin Jinkensen (5-0), Matt Campbell (5-2), Danny Pace (6-5) and DJ Sayre (6-4) en route to the title and averaging 88.78 on the day. As for Smith, he also came through an equally tough field to book a spot in the final. ‘The Silencer’ was in impressive form as he recorded victories over the likes of Joe Huffman (5-2), John Part (5-4), Gary Mawson (5-2), David Fatum (6-3) & Jeremiah Millar (6-3).

After securing his second CDC title of 2019, Young spoke to CDC’s Anthony Eugenia:

” I would never have predicted that I’d make the final of the first three events, the class of the field here, the talent’s very deep. It’s unbelievable… It’s tough, I mean Jeff’s (Smith) had my number probably six-to-eight times before this, I’m so used to shaking his hand and wishing him the best of luck, and the way that he’s played today just shows the class that he has. I have a lot of respect for Jeff, he’s one of, if not the best player in North America right now, and for me to get a win like that against a player of his caliber is big for me.”

Anthony also caught up with ‘The Silencer’ following his debut event on the CDC Tour:

“The CDC, the format, and everything’s been spectacular. I’ve had a really great time today, I’ve played some spectacular darts at times, I wish I would’ve brought a bit more into the final, but Darin played spectacular, and I didn’t have an answer for what he was throwing at me, but I’m thrilled to be here, and I can’t wait to play again tomorrow… You’re going to have to play six-to-eight matches under pressure constantly the whole way through, and the draw that I’ve had today definitely accentuates that. Darts in North America are on the way up, and if you’re planning on being a part of that, then you need to play the CDC.”

Full results & statistics are available via DartConnect: https://tv.dartconnect.com/matchlist/cdc19me3b​