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David Cameron Slays the Field to Claim Back-to-Back Titles

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David “Excalibur” Cameron won his second consecutive CDC event this afternoon, hoisting the Magic Darts Masters trophy. He defeated “The Ginga Ninja”, Matt Campbell, 7-2 in the final with two 180s. Indeed, he shot lights-out all day, averaging 94.84 over 46 legs, second only to John Norman Jnr’s 95.18.

Cameron reached his second consecutive final after overcoming a relentless comeback from Leonard “Soldier” Gates (who he dispatched in the Event 5 final) in what can only be described as a legendary semifinal match. The Canadian watched his comfortable 6-2 lead evaporate as Soldier turned up the heat with big trebles and clinical finishing to level the match at 6 and force a decider. The Canadian survived a match dart before stepping to the line with 25 remaining, which he finished S5 D10 to punch his ticket to the final. Prior to the semi, Cameron defeated Danny Lauby (6-1), Steve Warnock (6-2) and Jake Womack (in a match he actually trailed 3-0 and 4-2 before coming back to win in a deciding leg). He was consistently on-form all day, averaging 94.8 for the event, with 49% success on his checkouts.

Matt Campbell’s route to the finals began with a 5-1 victory over Howard Minor and 6-2 victory over Joey Lynaugh. He then dispatched the number eight seed (and 2021’s top-ranked Canadian), John Norman Jr, 6-2 with a 97 average. In the semifinals he opened up a 5-1 lead over Jules Van Dongen, averaging over 100 over that span. Van Dongen’s comeback attempt fell short, and Campbell finished up the 7-3 victory.

The road to the Cazoo World Darts Championship continues as the CDC Tour returns for weekend #3, August 12-14, in Indianapolis.

 

By Brian Fraser

June 26, 2022

Excalibur Continues Magical Run with Win in Boomerang Tours Fiesta

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The 5th Event of the Championship Darts Corporation’s 2022 campaign, the Boomerang Tours Fiesta, featured a marquee final between two of North America’s biggest stars, both of whom have enjoyed major recent successes. Canada’s David Cameron won the World Seniors Darts Masters in May, and American Leonard Gates won the North American championship in New York earlier this month. On this day, it was David Cameron who emerged victorious with a 7-3 victory, averaging 97.1 over the ten legs.

“Soldier” Gates’ had the more difficult trip to the finals, having to get through Kevin Luke (5-4), Steve Warnock (6-4), and Gary Mawson (6-3) to reach the semis where his run almost ended against Event 4 winner, Jake Taylor. Taylor led 6-5 and had match darts to win, but Gates punished those misses, winning the last two legs on the spin to take the match 7-6.

Cameron’s run was more straightforward, with comfortable wins against David Fatum, Ryan Vander Weit, and James Solek, to reach the semifinals. He did have a hard fought, back and forth matchup vs Keith Way at that stage, eking out a 7-5 victory to book his place in the final.

Leonard Gates produced the highest average on the day, despite the loss in the finals, shooting a 92.9 over 51 legs. He was one of six players to average in the 90s on the day. David Cameron’s finishing was excellent all day, converting 46% of his checkouts. Jake Taylor’s run to the semifinals included an event high twelve 180s.

Article by Brian Fraser

June 25, 2022

“The Truth” Reigns in Cambridge

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Canadian sharpshooter, Jake “The Truth” Taylor erased a 5-3 deficit and survived a match dart to defeat “The Gambler”, Danny Baggish, 7-6 in the final of Event #4 on the 2022 Championship Darts Circuit in Cambridge, Ontario on Saturday afternoon. With an event average of 83.03, the ‘Cosmo Classic’ (presented by the CDC’s longest-running partner, Cosmo Darts) saw top-quality darts and big finishes throughout from the Tour Card holders in attendance.

The eventual champion began his day with a convincing 5-1 victory over first year cardholder, Michael Nguyen, in the round of 32 before running into a tough test in Canadian Jim Long in the final 16. 5th-seeded Long opened up a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead but never managed an opportunity at a match dart as Taylor found his groove and poured on the pressure to win the final 5 legs and seal the victory. The Newfoundland man followed up that shocker with a convincing 6-1 victory over the event’s 4-seed (and newly-minted North American champion), Leonard Gates before seeing off Steve Warnock 7-3 in the semifinals.

Baggish, who was runner-up to Gates in the North American Championship at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden earlier this month, opened his run to the finals against his World Cup of Darts teammate, Jules Van Dongen, whom he dispatched 5-1 with a strong performance. He then took care of the 2021 CDC top Canadian, John Norman Jr, with a 6-1 victory and a 104.06 average. He would go on to defeat Cashmere Ventura 6-4 and then Shaun Narain 7-1 in the semifinals.

PDC Tour Card Holder, Baggish, led the event with a 92.31 average on the day and had the most 180s with ten. Jake Taylor finished second in both categories with an 89.36 average and eight 180s. Jim Long and Jason Watt each finished with a 44% checkout success rate to top the table.

The round-of-32 was NOT kind to the seeded players on the day, with top stars like Matt Campbell, Danny Lauby Jr, Chuck Puleo, Gary Mawson and the Seniors Matchplay champion, David Cameron, all falling before the last-16. They’ll be looking to rebound later on Saturday Event #5 – The Boomerang Tours Fiesta – begins at 4:00 Eastern. Points earned across all 12 Tour events will determine the American and Canadian representatives at the Cazoo World Darts Championship in London, England, in December.