Barham's Youth Tour Treble Delight

PAUL BARHAM took his third victory of the inaugural year of the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour with a 4-1 defeat of Holland's Dirk van Duijvenbode in the final of the final event in Gladbeck on Saturday.

Barham followed up his victories in Crawley and Nuland earlier this year with triumph in the 15th of the £2,000 Youth Tour events.

Having defeated Reece Robinson, Darren Whittingham and Adam Smith-Neale to reach the semi-finals in Germany, he whitewashed Essex rival Curtis Hammond to progress into the decider.

After taking the first leg with a 160 checkout, he won the second in 14 darts before hitting double four to lead 3-0.

Van Duijvenbode hit back on double five to take the next, after Barham had missed the bull and two darts at double 12 for victory, but the left-hander won the fifth to take the win.

Barham's £600 first prize moves him ahead of another treble-winner, Bradford's Joe Cullen, to finish second behind Michael van Gerwen in the final Order of Merit.

That means that he now wins a two-year PDC ProTour Card to turn professional in 2012 as he looks to take his Youth Tour success onto the main PDC circuit.

Van Duijvenbode, meanwhile, qualifies by right for the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship next month after reaching his first final, taking wins over Co Stompe Jnr, Joe Cullen, Kevin Wensink and Shaun Griffiths in the event.

The top 28 players from the final Youth Tour Order of Merit now qualify by right to compete in the World Youth Championship alongside ten International Qualifiers and 26 Rileys Qualifiers at the K2 Centre in Crawley on Friday November 4.

PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Event 15
Van Der Valk Hotel, Gladbeck

Preliminary Round
Joe Cullen 3-0 Thomas Karras
Shaun Griffiths 3-0 Arron Monk
Reece Robinson 3-0 Andreas Wimmer

First Round
Kevin Wensink 3-0 Julian Kasperczak
Gino Vos 3-0 Robin Hanke
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-1 Co Stompe Jnr
Joe Cullen 3-0 Marco van Rens
Rainer Hofweber 3-0 Leon Crumb
James Linan Bye (Stefanie Luck timed out)
Sam Hill 3-0 Marius May
Shaun Griffiths 3-0 Mike Nissen
Adam Smith-Neale 3-1 Maximilian Thamm
Chris Aubrey 3-0 Michael Gerten
Darren Whittingham 3-2 Michael Smith
Paul Barham 3-1 Reece Robinson
Martino Tagliapietra 3-0 Lukas Skiba
Curtis Hammond 3-2 Michael van Gerwen
Max Hopp 3-0 Yannick Vrampe
Max Lohfink 3-0 Jacob Nielsen

Second Round
Kevin Wensink 3-1 Gino Vos
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-2 Joe Cullen
Rainer Hofweber 3-0 James Linan
Shaun Griffiths 3-0 Sam Hill
Adam Smith-Neale 3-0 Chris Aubrey
Paul Barham 3-1 Darren Whittingham
Curtis Hammond 3-1 Martino Tagliapietra
Max Hopp 3-0 Max Lohfink
Losers €27.50 (£25 to Order of Merit)

Quarter-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 3-0 Kevin Wensink
Shaun Griffiths 3-0 Rainer Hofweber
Paul Barham 3-1 Adam Smith-Neale
Curtis Hammond 3-2 Max Hopp
Losers €110 (£100 to Order of Merit)

Semi-Finals
Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-2 Shaun Griffiths
Paul Barham 4-0 Curtis Hammond
Losers €220 (£200 to Order of Merit)

Final
Paul Barham 4-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode 
Winner €660 (£600 to Order of Merit)
Runner-Up €440 (£400 to Order of Merit)