PDC UNICORN World Youth Championships

THE PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship will have 96 players with a prize fund of £60,000 this year, providing greater opportunities for young players from across the globe.

There will be up to 72 qualifiers from the PDC Unicorn Development Tour Order of Merit, alongside any age-qualified players inside the top 32 on the main PDC Order of Merit. They will be joined by up to 24 international qualifiers from across the world to compete in the early rounds on Monday November 4th at Wigan’s Robin Park Tennis Centre.

The first round will be a group stage featuring 32 groups of three players, with the group winners progressing to compete in a knockout format from the last 32 onwards. The final will then take place on Sunday November 24th at the Butlin’s Minehead Resort between the semi-finals and final of the Players Championship Finals, live on ITV4.

An additional £10,000 has been added to the prize fund for the World Youth Championship, with the winner also securing a place in the 2019/2020 World Championship and the finalists qualifying for the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts.

Belgium’s Dimitri Van den Bergh won the title in for the last two years, having claimed the honour in 2017 by defeating Josh Payne and in 2018 against Martin Schindler both with averages over 100.

Prize Fund:

Format:

The group stage will be the best of nine legs per match, with two points awarded per win.
In the event of a tie, players are separated by head-to-head, or in the case of a three-way tie by leg difference, then head-to-head and, if needed, a three-way nine-dart shoot-out.
The knockout stage will be the best of 11 legs.

Registration on the day:

Doors Open 09.00am
Registration: 09.00am – 11.00am (You need to register prior to 11.00am)
Draw: 11.00am
Start: 30 mins after the draw is announced.
Conclude by 4.00pm

Early Rounds:
November 4th 2019 – Robin Park Tennis Centre
Final:
November 24th 2019 – Butlin’s Minehead Resort

Field:

Invitations will be issued to the following players:
*Players aged 23 or under from the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit
*Up to 72 players from the final 2019 PDC Unicorn Development Tour Order of Merit
*24 Invitations, as follows:

• USA (Jacob Womack)
• Canada (Evan Suderman)
• China (Xiaochen Zong)
• Asia x2 (Tomoya Goto, Dolreich Tongcopanon)
• Australia (Tremaine Gallagher & Jamie Rundle)
• New Zealand (Erik Pu)
• Nordic & Baltic x2 (Hampus Norstrom, Axel Ljungquist)
• Germany (Martin Schindler & Christian Bunse)
• Gibraltar (Justin Hewitt)
• Ireland x2 (Liam Gallagher & Kieran Guina)
• Russia (Maxim Aldoshin)
• JDC (Jurjen van der Velde & Brad Phillips)
• Western Europe (Brad Phillips, Gauke van der Boon)
• Eastern Europe (Patrick Kovacs) 
• Southern Europe (Jaime Nunez)
• India (Nihar Jayeshghai Baldha)

INCENTIVES:

PDC Rule 6.9 The following incentives are on offer to players competing in the Development Tour and World Youth Championship:

*The finalists of the 2019 World Youth Championship receive a one-year invitation to the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts subject to the entry criteria as stated in rule 3.1.

*The winner of the 2019 World Youth Championship receives an invitation to the 2019/20 World Championship.

NOTE: in the event of the players who achieve the above otherwise qualifying for the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts or 2019/20 World Championship, or rejecting their invitations, no further places shall be offered.

History:

• 2011 Arron Monk ENG (93.03) 6-4 Michael van Gerwen HOL (87.06)
  
• 2012 James Hubbard ENG (95.18) 6-3 Michael van Gerwen HOL (92.29)
  
• 2013 Michael Smith ENG (89.13) 6-1 Ricky Evans ENG (79.26)
  
• 2014 Keegan Brown ENG (85.67) 6-4 Rowby John Rodriguez AUS (79.80)
  
• 2015 Max Hopp GER (89.96) 6-5 Nathan Aspinall ENG (88.48)
  
• 2016 Corey Cadby AUS (98.35) 6-2 Berry van Peer HOL (89.62)
  
• 2017 Dimitri van den Bergh BEL (101.23) 6-3 Josh Payne ENG (92.11)
  
• 2018 Dimitri van den Bergh BEL (100.04) 6-3 Martin Schindler GER (91.60)
  
• 2019 ?