American trio Jules van Dongen, Alex Spellman and Danny Lauby shared titles as the 2023 Championship Darts Corporation season continued in Chicago last weekend.
The year’s second CDC weekend saw the sport’s leading North American stars compete in Events 4-6 on July 15-16, with Spellman retaining his lead at the top of the CDC Order of Merit.
However, American World Cup star Van Dongen claimed the spoils in Event Four, winning a high-quality decider against Lauby to clinch his first CDC title of 2023.
Van Dongen kicked off his campaign with an extraordinary 114.38 average to demolish Jeremiah Millar, before averaging 98 to dump out his World Cup partner Leonard Gates in round two.
The 33-year-old continued his progress with victory over Doug Boehm, and wins over Canadian duo Keith Way and Jake Macmillan saw him set up a showdown against Lauby.
CDC Continental Cup champion Spellman then celebrated his second title of the year to round off Saturday's double-header, averaging over 99 and landing five 180s to topple David Cameron 7-4 in the Event Five showpiece.
Spellman relinquished just six legs in reaching the final, following up a whitewash win over Jason Watt with victories against Dave Fatum, Jim Long and Lauby before seeing off Canada’s Cameron.
Having made the final and semi-finals earlier in the weekend, Lauby then went all the way to triumph in Event Six, which lifts him up to second on the CDC Order of Merit, with six events remaining in 2023.
The quick-fire left-hander opened his challenge with wins over Michael Nguyen and Fatum, before dispatching Boehm and Cameron to set up a mouth-watering final against top seed Jacob Taylor.
Taylor reeled off three straight legs from 6-2 down to threaten a remarkable comeback, but he paid the price for spurning two darts to force a decider, as Lauby closed out a hard-fought 7-5 victory.
Spellman tops the CDC Order of Merit after six events, ahead of Lauby and Gates in second and third respectively, with Taylor the highest-ranked Canadian in fourth spot.
The CDC action continues with the Cosmo Darts Matchplay on July 21, before the third weekend of CDC ProTour action takes place in Ontario from August 11-13.
2023 Championship Darts Corporation Tour
Saturday July 15, Chicago
Event Four
Semi-Finals
Danny Lauby 7-4 Jeff Springer
Jules van Dongen 7-2 Jake Macmillan
Final
Jules van Dongen 7-4 Danny Lauby
Event Five
Semi-Finals
Alex Spellman 7-2 Danny Lauby
David Cameron 7-2 Leonard Gates
Final
Alex Spellman 7-4 David Cameron
Sunday July 16
Event Six
Semi-Finals
Jacob Taylor 7-4 Stowe Buntz
Danny Lauby 7-2 David Cameron
Final
Danny Lauby 7-5 Jacob Taylor