Luke Humphries and Adam Gawlas reach World Youth Championship final

Image: Luke Humphries impressed in Wigan

Luke Humphries and Adam Gawlas will meet in the 2019 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final on Sunday November 24 after winning through Monday's early stages in Wigan.

The £60,000 tournament featured a 96-player field, including qualifiers from as far afield as New Zealand, Japan, China, America and Canada.

However, it was one of 2019's shooting stars who secured his place in the final as Gawlas, a 17-year-old from the Czech Republic, booked his spot in the final in Minehead.

He will take on Humphries, a two-time Development Tour champion bidding to claim the World Youth Championship title before moving full-time onto the senior circuit next year.

Gawlas defeated Dan Read and Rhys Griffin in the initial round-robin stage, before starting the knockout phase with an impressive 6-4 defeat of 2015 World Youth Champion Max Hopp.

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He then beat Harry Ward and Callan Rydz both by a 6-2 scoreline, and was then a 6-3 winner against Suffolk's Ryan Meikle in their semi-final.

Humphries, meanwhile, followed up his two Development Tour wins over the weekend at the Robin Park Tennis Centre by defeating Xiaochen Zong and Keelan Kay in the group stage.

He then edged out former World Youth Championship finalist Berry van Peer 6-5 in the last 32 before seeing off two other Dutch youngsters - Niels Zonneveld and Jeffrey de Zwaan - to reach the semi-finals.

There, Humphries overcame fast-emerging Irish teenager Keane Barry 6-2 to ensure his place in the final.

Image: Keane Barry fell at the penultimate hurdle

Gawlas has already reached the JDC's Junior World Championship final - where he will take on Barry - in December, and could still secure a place in the 2019/2020 William Hill World Darts Championship should he defeat Humphries in the final.

A £10,000 top prize is also on offer for the eventual World Youth Champion - who will succeed 2017 and 2018 winner Dimitri Van den Bergh - while both Humphries and Gawlas have now qualified for the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts.

The World Youth Championship final will then take place on Sunday November 24 in Minehead between the semi-finals and final of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals.

Results

Last 32

Adam Gawlas 6-4 Max Hopp

Harry Ward 6-2 Andy Kent

Nathan Rafferty 6-5 Mike De Decker

Callan Rydz 6-2 Jarred Cole

Ryan Meikle 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Ben Cheeseman 6-5 Greg Ritchie

Justin van Tergouw 6-2 Geert Nentjes

Martin Schindler 6-1 Jim Moston

Ted Evetts 6-3 Christian Bunse

William Borland 6-2 Connor Arberry

Mike van Duivenbode 6-2 James Beeton

Keane Barry 6-1 Wesley van Trijp

Wessel Nijman 6-3 Henk Snijder

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-2 Nathan Girvan

Luke Humphries 6-5 Berry van Peer

Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Carl Batchelor

Last 16

Adam Gawlas 6-2 Harry Ward

Callan Rydz 6-5 Nathan Rafferty

Ryan Meikle 6-3 Ben Cheeseman

Martin Schindler 6-3 Justin van Tergouw

William Borland 6-5 Ted Evetts

Keane Barry 6-4 Mike van Duivenbode

Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-5 Wessel Nijman

Luke Humphries 6-3 Niels Zonneveld

Quarter-finals

Adam Gawlas 6-2 Callan Rydz

Ryan Meikle 6-2 Martin Schindler

Keane Barry 6-3 William Borland

Luke Humphries 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan

Semi-finals

Adam Gawlas 6-3 Ryan Meikle

Luke Humphries 6-2 Keane Barry

Final

Adam Gawlas v Luke Humphries - Best of 11 legs, to be held Sunday November 24 at the Butlin's Minehead Resort.

Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts.

The action is back on your Sky Sports screens next month with the Grand Slam of Darts, nine days of coverage from the Aldersley Leisure Village gets underway on Saturday, November 9.

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