Labanauskas and Evetts surge to Winmau Challenge Tour titles in Hildesheim

Darius Labanauskas celebrated Winmau Challenge Tour glory again on Saturday, producing a late fightback to triumph for the second time this weekend, as England’s Ted Evetts also picked up a title in Hildesheim.

The year’s second weekend of Challenge Tour action continued with a bumper double-header in Hildesheim, as 231 players competed across the course of the day.

Lithuanian star Labanauskas kicked off Friday’s play with Event Eight success, sealed with a deciding-leg victory over former Grand Slam Champion Scott Waites.

Labanauskas overturned a 4-1 deficit to win his second Winmau Challenge Tour title of the weekend, rattling off four legs on the spin to stop Waites winning his first Challenge Tour title

The 48-year-old - who now has won three titles in 2025 - opened his title bid with two comfortable 5-1 victories over Andrea Micheletti and Ruben Mesters, before seeing off Richard Wagenaar, Jurgen van der Velde and Jacques Labre to book his spot in the quarter-finals.

Labanauskas then swept aside Swiss star Stefan Bellmont  in the quarter-finals, before cruising to the final, beating Owen Maiden 5-0 in a whitewash victory before fending off Scott Waites in the final.

Waites – a winner of the Grand Slam – came agonisingly close to landing a first Challenge Tour title since losing his tour card, winning seven straight games and averaging over 100 in his semi-final victory over Alexander Merkx.

Ted Evetts later claimed the Event Nine crown in the day’s second event, running out a 5-1 winner against Michael Unterbuchner to seal his first title of 2025.

Evetts - a winner of 14 Development Tour titles - raced into the Last 64 with two 5-1 victories over Colin Gibson and Marc Vleghert, before averaging 103.18 on his way to a 5-3 victory over Graham Hall.

There, Evetts would go on to beat Ryan Palmer, Kevin Lankhuizen and Andreas Harrysson in quick succession, sealing 5-1 victories against all three of them, with the Englishman only dropping eight legs all tournament before beating Unterbuchner 5-1.

With the victory in Event Nine, Evetts puts himself in fourth spot on the Order of Merit, jumping 11 places this weekend so far, with one event left to play.

The 2025 Winmau Challenge Tour continues with Event Ten on Sunday, with £15,000 in prize money on offer in the final event of the weekend.

The top two players from the final 2025 Challenge Tour Order of Merit will secure a PDC Tour Card for 2026/27 and a place in the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

Darius Labanauskas now tops the Winmau Challenge Tour Order of Merit after successfully picking up two titles this weekend, and now leads Beau Greaves - who is not in attendance in Hildesheim - by £2,850.


Click here to view Event Draws and Results.
 
Live match stats from all events can be followed through DartConnect. 

2025 Winmau Challenge Tour
Saturday March 15, Halle 39, Hildesheim
Event Six
Quarter-Finals

Darius Labanauskas 5-1 Stefan Bellmont
Owen Maiden 5-1 Ryan O'Connor
Scott Waites 5-2 Tom Sykes
Alexander Merkx 5-1 Sam Spivey

Semi-Finals
Darius Labanauskas 5-0 Owen Maiden
Scott Waites 5-1 Alexander Merkx

Final
Darius Labanauskas 5-4 Scott Waites

Event Seven
Quarter-Finals

Callum Goffin 5-4 Mervyn King
Michael Unterbuchner 5-4 Darius Labanauskas
Ted Evetts 5-1 Kevin Lankhuizen
Andreas Harrysson 5-3 Colin Osborne

Semi-Finals
Michael Unterbuchner 5-3 Callum Goffin
Ted Evetts 5-1 Andreas Harrysson

Final
Ted Evetts 5-1 Michael Unterbuchner