Stockton's Ted Evetts is world youth darts champion

'Super Ted' wins title at seventh and final attempt
Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig / PDC)Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig / PDC)
Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig / PDC)

Stockton darts star Ted Evetts was crowned Unicorn World Youth Champion for the first time in Minehead on Sunday after defeating Nathan Rafferty 6-4 in the final.

Competing in the World Youth Championship for the seventh and final time, the 24-year-old battled to come back from 3-1 down to lift the title on the main stage at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.

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Evetts, who had already secured qualification for the 2021/22 World Championship via the ProTour Order of Merit, also receives the £10,000 winners’ prize.

Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)
Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)

Earlier in the day, Evetts and Rafferty came through a 32-player tournament, played in group and knockout stages in Reds.

The early stages of the final saw Rafferty land the first break of throw to be leading 3-1, before back-to-back legs from Evetts saw him draw level.

The following two legs were also won by Evetts, before Rafferty kept his title hopes alive with a 100 checkout.

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However, his hopes of a first World Youth Championship crown were extinguished in the following leg as Evetts cleaned up 37 in two darts to finish his youth career on a high.

Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion and runner-up Nathan Rafferty (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion and runner-up Nathan Rafferty (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)
Ted Evetts Darts Unicorn World Youth Champion and runner-up Nathan Rafferty (Picture: Lawrence Lustig PDC)

“I’m over the moon, I would’ve swapped all my youth titles for this one,” said Evetts, the most successful player in Development Tour history.

“If you’d have spoken to 16-year-old me who couldn’t make it past the last 16, I wouldn’t have believed I’d be standing here with this trophy.

“I don’t think I’ve shown anywhere close to what I can do in the senior ranks so far.

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“There’s a lot more to come from me,” added Evetts, whose PDC ranking is 75th in the world.

“Hopefully I can use this as a springboard for future success on the big stage.”

A qualified chef, Evetts plays Men’s County for Warwickshire as well as being signed on to Warwickshire Youth County.

In the Unicorn World Youth Championship qualifying stages in Group G, Evetts, who is nicknamed ‘Super Ted’ beat Niko Springer 4-3, Keelan Kay 4-1 and finally Sebastian Bialecki 4-2.

A 5-3 quarter-final victory over Keelan Kay earned the former Southam College student a semi-final place against Kevin Doets, who he convincingly overcame 5-1 to claim his place the final.

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