Brooks tops UK Development Tour Order of Merit to book Ally Pally spot

Bradley Brooks

Bradley Brooks secured his place in the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship after finishing top of the Unicorn Development Tour UK Order of Merit.

Sunday saw the year's final two UK events take place in Barnsley, with Brooks defeating Keelan Kay 5-1 in a straight shoot-out for top spot in the Event 12 final.

Reigning World Youth Champion Brooks made his Alexandra Palace debut in the 2020/21 event, and will now return for a second successive appearance.

Brooks' win also sees the 21-year-old win a two-year PDC Tour Card starting in 2022 should he finish outside the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit at the conclusion of the 2021/22 World Championship.

Meanwhile, Nathan Rafferty will make his BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts debut in November after his Event 11 win saw the Northern Irishman finish second on the final Order of Merit.

As Brooks was already a Grand Slam qualifier thanks to winning the 2020 World Youth Championship, Rafferty takes his place in the Wolverhampton event as the highest-placed non-qualifier player.

Rafferty won Sunday's opening tournament in Barnsley, defeating Ted Evetts 5-4 in the Event 11 final.

The 21-year-old survived a match dart from Evetts in the deciding leg, before taking out 116 to double his Development Tour title tally for 2021.

Event 12 saw Brooks survive ten match darts from Rhys Griffin in the fourth round, before going on to reach the final thanks to victories over Keane Barry, Dom Taylor and Jimmy Bristow.

The final saw Brooks prove too strong for 19-year-old Kay, who narrowly missed out on the World Championship, Grand Slam and Tour Card in third place.

The 2021 Development Tour will conclude with European Events 7-12 in Niedernhausen from November 5-7, with the overall Order of Merit winner winning places in the 2021/22 World Championship, 2021 Grand Slam of Darts and a two-year Tour Card.

Click here to see full results from UK Events 11 and 12.
View match stats from both tournaments in DartConnect.

Click here to view final UK Unicorn Development Tour Orders of Merit.

PDC Unicorn Development Tour UK
Sunday October 31, Barnsley Metrodome
Event 11
Quarter-Finals

Ted Evetts 5-2 Owen Maiden
Llew Bevan 5-3 Liam Meek
Nathan Rafferty 5-1 Tyler Radlett
Bradley Brooks 5-0 Charlie Manby

Semi-Finals
Ted Evetts 5-2 Llew Bevan
Nathan Rafferty 5-1 Bradley Brooks

Final
Nathan Rafferty 5-4 Ted Evetts

Event 12
Quarter-Finals

Jimmy Bristow 5-2 Ciaran Teehan
Bradley Brooks 5-4 Dom Taylor
Joshua Richardson 5-3 Ben West
Keelan Kay 5-1 Jordan Boyce

Semi-Finals
Bradley Brooks 5-0 Jimmy Bristow
Keelan Kay 5-4 Joshua Richardson

Final
Bradley Brooks 5-1 Keelan Kay