Alexander Merkx and Andreas Harryson picked up Winmau Challenge Tour titles on the penultimate day of action in 2024.
With the top two players from the final 2024 Challenge Tour Order of Merit securing a PDC Tour Card for 2025/26 and a place in the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship, there was plenty to play for at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena.
Connor Scutt and Wesley Plaisier lead the way heading into Events 23-24, but victories for Dutchman Merkx and Sweden’s Harrysson boosted their chances going into the final two events on Sunday.
Merkx started Event 21 with a 5-0 victory over Colin Tyler before successive 5-2 victories over Martin Thomas and Simon Perkins.
In the Last 16, he blew away Darren Armstrong 5-0 and followed that by squeezing past Thomas Lovely in a deciding leg.
A comprehensive 5-1 victory in the Semi-Final followed over Germany’s Franz Roetzsch, and he sealed the £2,500 prize with a 5-3 win over Darryl Pilgrim - who had featured in the Players Championship events in Leicester earlier this week.
It was another strong run in the second event of the day for Merkx as he reached the Quarter-Finals before losing 5-4 to Darius Labanauskas.
Harryson’s run to victory in Event 22 started with a trio of victories over English opponents as he brushed aside John Bowles, Sam Spivey and Patrick Lynskey.
A 5-2 win over Derek Barry followed, and Harryson then put in his best performance of the day as he averaged 104.38 in a 5-0 thumping of Cam Crabtree.
He then beat Aden Kirk 5-2 in the Quarter-Finals and Sebastian Bialecki 5-3 in the last four.
In the final, he powered past Belgium’s Stefaan Henderyck 5-2 to secure his first Challenge Tour title of the year.
Scutt boosted his position at the top of the Challenge Tour Order of Merit with a run to the Last 16 in Event 21, but suffered a first round defeat in Event 22.
The fortunes were reversed for Plaisier as he ducked out in the opening round of Event 21, but put in a solid run to the Last 16 in the second event of the day.
The Winmau Challenge Tour continues on Sunday with the final two events of 2024.
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Live match stats from all events can be followed through DartConnect.
2024 Winmau Challenge Tour
Event 21
Quarter-Finals
Alexander Merkx 5-4 Thomas Lovely
Franz Roetzsch 5-4 Justin Hood
Darryl Pilgrim 5-2 Stefan Bellmont
Dragutin Horvat 5-1 Shane McGuirk
Semi-Finals
Alexander Merkx 5-1 Franz Roetzsch
Darryl Pilgrim 5-0 Dragutin Horvat
Final
Alexander Merkx 5-3 Darryl Pilgrim
Event 22
Quarter-Finals
Stefaan Henderyck 5-3 Daniel Ayres
Darius Labanauskas 5-4 Alexander Merkx
Sebastian Bialecki 5-3 Franz Roetzsch
Andreas Harrysson 5-2 Aden Kirk
Semi-Finals
Stefaan Henderyck 5-4 Darius Labanauskas
Andreas Harrysson 5-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Final
Andreas Harrysson 5-2 Stefaan Henderyk