The ADC and WADC Winmau Championship North returns to Middlesbrough Sports Village this weekend, with Events 9–12 taking place across 5–6 September.
Eight events into the 2026 North series, there has already been plenty of variety in the men's competition and a fascinating pattern developing in the women's events.
The ADC side has produced seven different title winners across the opening eight events, with only Daniel Ayres and Steve Lennon managing to win twice. David Sumner, Lewis Pride, Scott Winder and Danny Trueman have also taken titles, while the scoring standard has remained consistently high. Across Events 1–8, the average of each event's top ten match averages stands at 98.54, with Danny Trueman's 109.61 in Event 8 the highest individual performance so far.
The WADC series has followed a very different pattern. Every title so far has been shared between just four players: Natalie Gilbert, Vicky Pruim, Kim Holden and Steph Clarke, each winning twice.
That gives this weekend an obvious question on both sides: do the established North winners extend their grip on the series, or are Events 9–12 where somebody new finally breaks through?
ADC: A strong field with several players arriving in serious form
Daniel Ayres has arguably been the benchmark of the North campaign so far. He won Events 2 and 4, reached the final of Event 7 and has produced some of the strongest individual numbers of the series.
His recent form away from the ADC adds another layer. Ayres reached the Last 32 at Players Championship 28 with a 92.93 event average, beating Cameron Menzies, Niels Zonneveld and Ritchie Edhouse along the way.
But the man arriving with perhaps the most eye-catching recent record is Ryan Hogarth.
Hogarth already showed his ceiling during the earlier North events, producing a 105.64 average in Event 3 and reaching back-to-back semi-finals in Events 7 and 8. He has since won at the Welsh Open, Masters & Classic, going 9–0 with an 89.16 event average. His recorded last-ten form is a perfect 10–0.
Jack Drayton brings similarly imposing momentum. He won ADC Championship South Event 11 with an 87.62 tournament average and is also 10–0 across his most recent ten recorded matches.
That potentially gives us an intriguing collision between players who have already dominated the North series and others arriving with outstanding form from elsewhere.
Six ADC players to watch
Ryan Hogarth – A Welsh Open title, an 89.16 winning event average and a 10–0 recent record make Hogarth one of the clearest headline candidates this weekend.
Jack Drayton – Another player arriving 10–0, with his recent ADC Championship South Event 11 title showing he can sustain his level through a long tournament run.
Daniel Ayres – Already a two-time North winner and now coming off a strong Players Championship 28 run; few entrants combine his North record with such a high current scoring ceiling.
Stuart Dutton – An 88% win rate in the selection data is backed up by genuine recent tournament form. Dutton has won at the Riverside with an 87.47 event average and more recently reached another final, while going 8–2 in his last ten.
Lewis Cook – Cook has been producing plenty of scoring power, including a 91.09 match average during Championship South Event 10, where he reached the quarter-finals. He is 7–3 across his last ten recorded matches.
Tom Baughan – Perhaps the less obvious name among the six, but his form warrants attention. Baughan is 9–1 across his last ten and has made two recent Riverside finals as well as a semi-final and quarter-final in his last five tournaments.
There are plenty of dangers beyond those six.
Danny Trueman comes back as the defending Event 8 champion after recording that huge 109.61 during his title run, while Steve Lennon has already won twice. Lewis Pride, Graham Usher, Carl Batchelor, Danny Lauby and Ciaran Forde all have enough evidence in the numbers to make deep runs.
The strength of these events has been their depth rather than simply one or two dominant names. Event 5, for example, had a top-ten average of 100.05, while every ADC event so far has had a top-ten figure above 96.
That makes four more tournaments over one weekend a particularly interesting test.
WADC: Can anybody break the four-player title monopoly?
The women's competition has a clearer established hierarchy.
After eight tournaments, Natalie Gilbert, Vicky Pruim, Kim Holden and Steph Clarke have won every single title between them.
Pruim won Events 2 and 6, Holden took Events 3 and 4, Gilbert won Events 1 and 7 and Clarke claimed Events 5 and 8.
And Pruim may be the player arriving in the strongest form of all.
She has since won at the Welsh Open, Masters & Classic with an 80.24 tournament average and followed it with another semi-final. Her recent notable wins include Deta Hedman and Fallon Sherrock.
The North events already showed what her scoring ceiling can look like. Pruim's 88.41 in Event 6 remains the highest WADC North match average across the first eight events.
Steph Clarke is another obvious threat. She has already won twice in Middlesbrough, including Event 8, and recently reached the final of Championship South Event 8 with a 72.53 tournament average.
But perhaps the player with the biggest unfinished business is Angela Kirkwood.
Kirkwood reached the final of North Event 1 and again in Event 8 without taking the title. She also produced an 87.38 average during Event 2 — one of the highest performances of the entire WADC North series.
Could Events 9–12 finally turn those deep runs into a win?
Six WADC players to watch
Vicky Pruim – Already a two-time North champion, and now arriving with another title and semi-final from the Welsh Open weekend. She remains the player with the highest WADC North match average so far.
Angela Kirkwood – Twice a North finalist and still searching for that first title. Her recent Women's Series quarter-finals and 7–3 last-ten record suggest another deep run would be no surprise.
Steph Clarke – Two North titles already, including Event 8, plus another recent final on the South circuit. Clarke has repeatedly shown she can convert a good day into a tournament run.
Jackie Brighton – The 82% selection win rate is backed by a recent WADC Vault title, where she went 5–0 with a 70.72 event average, followed by a regional final.
Eleanor Cairns – Already a North finalist in Event 2, when she produced 76.23 and 75.75 averages in the latter stages. Cairns also reached the quarter-finals of Championship South Event 5 and has remained competitive across the recent Women's Series.
Sarah Roberts – A recent WADC Vault winner who went unbeaten through that event with a 65.99 average. She also defeated Kirsty Hutchinson on her way to the quarter-final stages of North Event 8.
The six are certainly not the only names capable of making an impact.
Natalie Gilbert and Kim Holden deserve particular mention simply because both have already won twice in this series. Kirsty Hutchinson has reached a recent Women's Series semi-final, while Rebecca Allen's results include a JDC Girls Series title and a JDC Nations Cup win.
Four events could change the picture quickly
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this weekend is the volume.
Four tournaments means one poor event does not necessarily define the weekend. Players have time to adjust, build confidence or suddenly find a scoring level that changes everything.
On the ADC side, Daniel Ayres and Steve Lennon currently lead the way with two titles each, but neither has yet established outright control of the series.
On the WADC side, the symmetry is even more remarkable: four players, two titles each.
By Sunday evening that picture could look very different.
Hogarth and Drayton arrive carrying outstanding winning runs. Ayres has combined North success with strong PDC performances. Dutton and Baughan are quietly putting together some excellent tournament results.
Pruim and Clarke already know how to win in Middlesbrough, Kirkwood has repeatedly gone close, while Brighton, Cairns and Roberts all have reasons to believe they can challenge the established four.
Events 9–12 may therefore tell us whether the first half of the North series established a genuine hierarchy — or merely set the stage for somebody else to break into it.
