Sevada Reaps #12 with Set-Play Showdown Win Over Gates

Adam Sevada claimed his 12th career CDC Tour title on Sunday, defeating Leonard Gates 5-3 in sets to win the Boomerang Tours Fiesta in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

The final event of the weekend was played as a CDC Sunday Special, with a set-play format used throughout the tournament. Matches were best-of-five sets through the quarterfinals, best-of-seven sets in the semifinals and best-of-nine sets in the final, with all sets played over the best of three legs.

“The Reaper” produced another superb day’s work to move within two titles of “SouLGer,” at the top of the all-time CDC Tour title list.

The top seed did not drop a set until the semifinals, opening the final stages with a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Joe Chaney before defeating Kevin Luke 4-1 in the last four.

Gates’ route to the final was far less straightforward. The number two seed was forced to survive a last-leg decider against Ross Snook in his opening match, before eventually finding his range and advancing to another CDC showpiece. He defeated seventh seed Gary Mawson 3-1 in the quarterfinals, before stopping the in-form Fred Krueger 4-1 in the semifinals. Krueger, who captured the Magic Darts Masters title on Saturday, impressed again with another semifinal run, underlining his status as one of the form players on the Tour.

Luke also capped a strong weekend with a semifinal appearance, adding to his quarterfinal run from Saturday, while Edward LaVeck reached the Last 16, his best finish in a CDC tournament.

The final itself produced a fitting heavyweight conclusion to the Oakbrook weekend. Gates took the opening set, but Sevada responded by winning three sets on the spin to move 3-1 ahead. However, Gates refused to go quietly, twice cutting the deficit to a single set, but Sevada held firm in the eighth set, winning it 2-1 to close out a 5-3 victory.

Sevada averaged 91.64 in the final, with Gates finishing at 87.20, as the pair combined for 21 legs of high-quality set-play darts.

Sevada also led the field on the day with a 91.19 average, while Gates topped the 180 count with 14 maximums. Dan Lauby, Sr. produced the highest checkout of the event, taking out 152 in his return to the CDC Tour after a three-year hiatus.

Results

Quarterfinals
Adam Sevada (1) 3-0 Joe Chaney
Charlie Harrison 1-3 Kevin Luke
Leonard Gates (2) 3-1 Gary Mawson (7)
Fred Krueger 3-1 Kiley Edmunds (11)

Semifinals
Adam Sevada 4-1 Kevin Luke
Leonard Gates 4-1 Fred Krueger

Final
Adam Sevada 5-3 Leonard Gates