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“The Gambler” Doubles His Winnings

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Danny Baggish secured his second title of 2022, winning the Magic Darts Derby 7-3 over Stowe Buntz.

Baggish was in excellent form from the get-go, averaging 95.9 for the tournament. He opened with a 5-0 win over James Solek and followed it with a 6-3 win over Keith Way. He then dispatched two of the top ranking Canadians, David Cameron 6-2 in the quarterfinals and his fellow PDC tour card holder, Matt Campbell, 7-5 in the semifinals.

For his part, Stowe Buntz had an impressive day as well. He defeated North American champion, Leonard Gates, 5-1 in the first round, and followed it with a 6-0 victory over Rob Ethington and a 6-1 win over Alex Spellman to reach the semifinals. His semifinal matchup against John Norman Jr would be a back and forth affair, with Buntz prevailing 7-5 to reach his first final.

Statistically, Danny Baggish was in a league of his own, topping the table in average (95.9), 180s (11), and checkout percent (50%), on his way to the title. Matt Campbell converted the highest checkout of the day with a 167 against Baggish in their semifinal match, and David Cameron had the high match average of 100.6 in his opening round against Doug Boehm.

The victory for Baggish also seals his position as the #1 American on the Tour Points List and, thus, his return to the Alexandra Palace for the 2023 PDC/Cazoo World Darts Championship in London this December. The race for the Canada World Championship berth, as well as CDC Continental Cup qualifying (top 16 players) continues with event 11 this afternoon.

 

–Brian Fraser
September 10, 2022

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

“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.