ADC Championship 2026 – Events 1–4 Weekend Review

 Southern: Aylesbury (Bradmoor Farm) • Northern: Middlesbrough Sports Village

The 2026 ADC Winmau Championship season got underway with a major structural change  and it’s one that looks like an instant success.

For the first time, the ADC has split the Championships into two parallel regional tours, North and South, while also removing the previous entry cap. The result? Bigger fields, stronger competition, and arguably the most accessible set of amateur Championships the ADC has ever delivered.

Across the opening weekends in Aylesbury and Middlesbrough, the new format immediately proved its worth.

Event Format Overview

Both the Southern and Northern Championships follow the same structure:

Each region hosts 12 Championship events, split across three weekends, with four events per weekend.
There is a £34,000 prize fund per region, plus a £10,000 Grand Final for the top qualifiers.
Each Championship event pays £1,000 to the winner, with prize money extending down to the quarter-final stage.
Finals are streamed live, adding valuable exposure for players progressing deep into events.

With Bradmoor Farm hosting the South and Middlesbrough Sports Village anchoring the North, players now have genuine geographical choice  one of the key goals of the new system.

---

Southern Championship – Aylesbury (Bradmoor Farm)

Events 1–4

Bradmoor Farm once again delivered a packed and competitive weekend, with the removal of the old 256-player cap noticeably deepening the field.

The standout performance came in Event 1, where Dai Davies set an early benchmark for the season. Davies claimed the opening title with an impressive tournament average in the mid-80s, backed up by heavy scoring in the opening nine darts and composed finishing under pressure. Across the weekend, he looked sharp, controlled, and confident — a serious early contender in the Southern standings.

Beyond the winner, there were plenty of encouraging performances across Events 1–4. Players such as Steve West, Ashley Coleman, Alan Slater, Zak Cross, Mark Stafford, Dan Perry, Graham Hall, Lloyd Pennell, and Curtis Hammond all reached the quarter-final stage in Event 3, highlighting the depth of competition already emerging in the South.

Once again, Bradmoor Farm received praise for its organisation and atmosphere, cementing its reputation as one of the strongest amateur darts venues in the country.

---

Northern Championship – Middlesbrough Sports Village

Events 1–4

While detailed match breakdowns from the Northern opener are still filtering through, all indicators point to a strong and competitive launch.

The Middlesbrough Sports Village proved a fitting venue for high-volume amateur darts, and the open-entry format ensured a large, motivated field. With £1,000 on offer per event, interest was high from established ADC regulars and ambitious new names alike.

One notable strength of the new structure is flexibility: ADC members are free to compete in either region, and many players continue to do both. That crossover ensures the Northern standings will quickly become highly competitive as the season progresses.

---

General Impressions After Events 1–4

The opening weekends have already revealed several key takeaways:

Bigger Amateur Fields
The removal of entry caps has allowed far more players to compete, raising overall standards and creating deeper, more meaningful competitions.

Dual-Region System Is Working
Splitting the Championships into North and South has genuinely expanded access. Players can now compete regionally without sacrificing quality  or choose to play both regions and build ranking points aggressively.

Early Form Guide
In the South, Dai Davies has set the pace, while a strong group of experienced ADC names are already pushing close behind. In the North, the competitiveness is clear, even if standout names will emerge more clearly over the next block of events.

Prize Money & Pathways
With strong regional prize funds, a Grand Final, and a clear pathway into the ADC Global Championship, the ADC now offers one of the most attractive amateur darts routes in the UK — competitive, televised, and financially meaningful.

---

Summary

The opening phase of the ADC Championship 2026 delivered exactly what the restructure promised:

Bigger participation
Wider regional access
Higher-quality darts
A strong early benchmark performance from Dai Davies
Competitive fields in both North and South with plenty still to unfold

As Events 5–8 arrive later in the season, the tables will begin to take shape — and we’ll get a clearer picture of who’s pushing for Portsmouth, who’s chasing global qualification, and who might emerge as this year’s amateur breakthrough story.

PDC Women’s Series 2026 – Opening Weekend Review

 The opening weekend of the 2026 PDC Women’s Series has already delivered a very clear storyline: Beau Greaves remains miles ahead of the field.

Across the four events in Hildesheim, Greaves extended her unbeaten Women’s Series run to an extraordinary 113 consecutive matches, sweeping all four titles with a blend of dominant scoring and ruthless finishing. It wasn’t just that she won , it was how comfortably she did it.

What we saw over the weekend was a player operating at a level that currently feels untouchable.

Beau Greaves: Total Control

Greaves was simply imperious throughout all four events. Ton-plus averages became routine, and even the very best in the women’s game struggled to take legs, let alone matches, off her.

The standout moment came in the Event Four final, where she whitewashed Lisa Ashton with a 100+ average and  a performance that perfectly summed up the weekend. Earlier in the event, she had already brushed aside the likes of Fallon Sherrock, Deta Hedman, Kim Holden, and Angela Kirkwood with similar authority.

After just one weekend, Greaves sits comfortably clear at the top of the 2026 Women’s Series Order of Merit, already holding a commanding lead. Even more impressively, she’s doing all this while balancing a full PDC ProTour schedule  and showing no signs of fatigue.

The Chasing Pack: Who’s Closest?

Lisa Ashton
Ashton once again proved she is the best of the rest. She reached multiple finals over the weekend and remains Greaves’ nearest challenger on the rankings. However, even at her sharpest, she couldn’t seriously threaten the world number one. The gap is still very real.

Fallon Sherrock
Sherrock remains the player most capable of producing big moments and high averages, and there were flashes of that form again this weekend. She reached the latter stages consistently and sits third in the early standings, but even mid-90s darts weren’t enough to slow Greaves when it mattered.

Robyn Byrne
Byrne showed signs of solidity, reaching later rounds and producing tidy performances. However, her scoring remains a level below the very top. She continues to hover in the low-to-mid 60s on average, which currently isn’t enough to trouble the elite trio.

Potential Breakthrough Player

Jade Gofford
One of the most encouraging stories of the weekend was Jade Gofford. She reached the Top 16 with an impressive performance against Rhian O’Sullivan, averaging over 80 in defeat, and posted several mid-70s averages earlier in the event.

She currently sits inside the top five on the Women’s Series rankings, reflecting genuine progress. While she isn’t yet scoring heavily enough to challenge Greaves across a full match, her upward trajectory is clear  and of the emerging names, she looks the most likely to take a significant step forward this season.

The Dutch Contingent

Dutch participation was lighter than usual this weekend due to the Dutch Open taking place at the same time. That event was won by Priscilla Steenbergen, who claimed the women’s title with an impressive final victory.

Steenbergen’s success underlines the depth of Dutch women’s darts, and her confidence and momentum could make her an interesting contender when she returns to the Women’s Series circuit. Whether that translates into challenging Greaves this year is another question , but she is certainly one to watch.

Is Anyone Ready to Challenge Beau Greaves?

Right now, the honest answer is no.

Greaves is operating at a level rarely seen in the women’s game, routinely producing averages in the 95–107 range across multiple events in a single weekend. Neither Sherrock nor Ashton, both proven champions, can live with her when she’s in full flow.

If there is a name to keep an eye on as the season progresses, Jade Gofford appears to be showing the clearest signs of upward movement. But the gap at the top remains enormous.

Looking Ahead

With the Dutch players returning, Steenbergen carrying confidence from her Dutch Open triumph, and Gofford’s continued improvement, the field should look stronger when Events 5–8 roll around.

For now, though, one thing is clear: Beau Greaves is rewriting the standards of the Women’s Series, and the rest are still playing catch-up.

My Progress Over the Last Few Weeks – A Breakthrough?

 

It’s been a strange few weeks. Life has thrown its usual mix of busy spells and distractions, which meant the blog took a temporary back seat. But one thing I didn’t step away from was the practice board  and, in a quiet sort of way, things have started to change.

I’ve been here before, thinking I’d made a breakthrough, so I’m saying this carefully.
But something really does feel different this time.

Thursday 22nd January – A First on a Thursday Night

This was the first real sign that things might be moving in the right direction.

I played five group games  and won all five.

On a Thursday, with an Open-standard field, that simply doesn’t happen for me. The averages weren’t spectacular, but that didn’t matter. Winning was the priority, and I felt sharp, solid, and genuinely competitive.

I eventually went out in the Last 16, but even that didn’t sting. I walked away feeling good and better than I had in quite a while.

Thursday 29th January – A Tough Group, Better Scoring

A week later, the results on paper didn’t look as impressive: just two wins from five.

But context matters. It was a very tough group.

My scoring was noticeably improved and, although doubles let me down at key moments, I had chances in every match. These were players I’d normally expect to lose to comfortably, yet this time I was pushing them, taking legs, and losing narrowly.

Instead of feeling deflated, I walked away thinking:

I’m starting to mix it with the next level up.

Thursday 5th February – Consistency Emerging

This night felt like a blend of the previous two weeks:

• Really solid scoring

• Four wins out of five in the group

• Another Last 16 exit  but one that could easily have gone my way

My opponent produced a 17-dart leg to win the deciding leg 3–2. Hard to complain about that — sometimes you just get hit with a cracking leg at the wrong moment.

Once again, though, the key takeaway was that my level stayed high.

So… What’s Changed?

Interestingly, the breakthrough didn’t come on the oche.

It came while I was marking and refereeing at Challenge Tours and Masters qualifiers.

Being around higher-level players forced me to really pay attention  not just to how good they were, but how they played:

Their stance
Their throw
Their rhythm
Their arm path
Their overall movement

As I watched, I started comparing everything to my own technique  and that’s when I noticed something big.

My arm was going back twice before the throw.

Almost nobody else did this.

Most players had one clean movement: back and forward, smooth and controlled.

So I started testing it in practice.

At first it felt weird. Then awkward. Then suddenly… it clicked.

And when it clicked, the darts grouped properly.
Straighter, tighter, and far more predictable.

Taking It Into Competition

My practice routines focus heavily on grouping and doubles, but I didn’t fully realise how much this technical tweak had helped until I took it into live match play.

Suddenly:

• Trebles were appearing more often

• Doubles were going in more consistently

• My confidence felt calmer and more assured

Even the losses felt like good losses — games where I still played proper darts.

Right now, I’m consistently around a 60 average, and the next goal is clear:

Push towards a consistent 70 over the next six months.

If I can do that  and I genuinely believe I can. I’ll go into competitions feeling like I belong and can make real progress.

For the first time in a long while,
that feels very possible.

Helena, Jen & David — Darts Creators Bringing Fun, Personality & Play to the Online Oche

 

In the world of darts, there’s the pro circuit with televised tournaments and ranking glory… and then there’s the social side — the people who make darts feel friendly, relatable, and fun on social media. Let’s meet three of those voices: Helena, Jen Mounts, and David Williams (Darts4Fun) Creators who show that darts isn’t just a sport but a community.

---

👩‍🎯 Helena — Helena Darts

Platforms: Instagram, Facebook (plus bio links to other channels)

Helena brings an energetic and authentic voice to darts content. Her social feeds mix practice shots, fun clips, heartfelt moments, and ones that remind everyone that improvement — and enjoyment — are part of the journey. Helena’s presence is all about connection and positivity within the darts community.

✨ Where to find her:

• Instagram (@HelenaDarts) — reels and clips showing real darts moments.

• Facebook Page — community posts and updates linked to her darts journey.

📌 Why fans like Helena: Her content feels familiar — like following a friend’s progress, wins and misses included.

---

🏆 Jen Mounts — Jen Mounts Darts

Platforms: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube

Jen Mounts shares darts content with a creative and playful vibe. Her presence across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube includes friendly games, challenges, and fun interactions — often with friends and family — making the sport engaging even for casual fans. While she might post match-style videos, it’s her fun-focused approach that stands out.

✨ Where to find her:

• Instagram (@jenmountsdarts) — photos and short clips.

• Facebook Page — community engagement and darts vids.

• YouTube (Jen Mounts Darts) — longer videos and variety content.

📌 Why fans like Jen: She lights up the feed with light-hearted darts action, perfect for anyone who loves watching darts just for fun.

---

🎯 David Williams — Darts4Fun

Platforms: Instagram (@d_williams180), Facebook, YouTube

David Williams, known online as Darts4Fun, is another creator making waves with his social darts content. His Instagram handle @d_williams180 features challenging reels, friendly competitions, and community-style content tagged with #darts4fun.

David also shares content on Facebook — including short videos and playful features like “Guess the player” — and appears in longer YouTube clips that mix fun moments with more structured darts play, sometimes connected to series like the Modus Super Series.

✨ Where to find him:

• Instagram (@d_williams180) — fun reels, challenges, and darts life clips.

• Facebook Page (Darts4Fun) — community posts and video shorts.

• YouTube — Darts4Fun / David Williams clips — curated fun moments and match footage.

📌 Why fans like David: His content brings friendly competition and witty challenges, reminding viewers that darts is at its best when it’s entertaining and inclusive.

---

🌟 Why This Social Scene Matters

What unites Helena, Jen, and David isn’t professional rankings or titles — it’s personality, community, and play. Their content:

• Makes darts accessible and fun — not just about 180s and checkouts.

• Connects people — fans can join in via comments and shared jokes.

• Gives everyone a reason to grab a set of darts — whether to practice or just smile at the screen.

Social media has broadened darts beyond pubs and arenas into daily feeds around the world — and these creators are a big part of that.