Dyer & Milford's Challenge Tour Wins

Winmau Challenge Tour

AARON DYER and Paul Milford shared victories on the opening day of the 2017 PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour in Milton Keynes.

THE PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour is the PDC's second-tier tour for players who do not hold a PDC Tour Card.

A series of 20 tournaments will be held during 2019, each offering £10,000 in prize money.

Tournaments are held across five double-header weekends, with two events per day on each weekend.

BORIS KOLTSOV and Ritchie Edhouse picked up victories on Sunday as the opening PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour weekend of 2019 concluded in Wigan.

Edhouse claimed his second Challenge Tour title as he defeated Scott Taylor 5-3 in the Event Three final.

Edhouse, a winner previously in 2016 on the PDC's second-tier circuit, picked up the £2,000 first prize in the first of Sunday's two events at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.

The 35-year-old from Enfield won nine games to take the title, opening his challenge with a defeat of Michael Rasztovits, a Challenge Tour event winner last November.

He went on to defeat Zak Cross, Jimmy Hendriks, Berry van Peer, Darren Johnson, Ricky Williams and Jeffrey de Graaf.

Edhouse then overcame Andrew Gilding 5-3 in the semi-finals, before repeating that scoreline against Taylor in the decider.

Taylor had seen off former World Championship runner-up Andy Hamilton 5-3 with a 106 average in the quarter-finals in his best performance of Event Three.

Taylor also overcame Brazil's Diogo Portela, Sweden's Dennis Nilsson and Saturday's Event Two winner Nathan Rafferty as he reached the final, before being denied his second Challenge Tour title.

Gilding and Nilsson won through to the semi-finals, while Hamilton was joined by De Graaf, Mick Todd and Anthony Brown in the last eight.

Canada's John Part reached the last 16 before losing out to Hamilton, while Matthew Dennant caught the eye with a stunning 119 average in his early 5-1 win over Scott Dale.

Event Four saw the weekend's action in Wigan conclude, as Russian ace Koltsov edged out Prins in a deciding leg in the final.

The World Cup representative and three-time World Championship qualifier was in dominant form throughout Event Four, losing no more than two legs in his seven matches to reach the decider.

The final saw the opening six legs shared before Koltsov secured a break to lead 4-3.

Prins broke back to force a decider, but Koltsov returned on 12 to claim the £2,000 top prize.

Prins had defeated Event Three winner Edhouse in the last 16 and then overcame both Darren Johnson and Dave Ladley with a 5-1 scoreline to reach his first Challenge Tour final.

Jason Askew - the son of former PDC professional Dave - completed just his second weekend of competitive darts with a semi-final appearance in Event Four alongside Ladley.

The next PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour weekend will be held on May 11-12 at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan, as PDPA Associate Members compete across two days.

See full results and stats through DartConnect.

PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour
Event Three, Sunday January 27
Full Event Three Results
Last 16

Andrew Gilding 5-4 Stefaan Deprez
Mick Todd 5-1 Dave Prins
Jeffrey de Graaf 5-3 Mareno Michels
Ritchie Edhouse 5-4 Ricky Williams
Anthony Brown 5-4 Martin Atkins (Leeds)
Dennis Nilsson 5-4 Brian Woods
Scott Taylor 5-1 Peter Mitchell
Andy Hamilton 5-4 John Part

Quarter-Finals
Andrew Gilding 5-1 Mick Todd
Ritchie Edhouse 5-1 Jeffrey de Graaf
Dennis Nilsson 5-4 Anthony Brown
Scott Taylor 5-3 Andy Hamilton

Semi-Finals
Ritchie Edhouse 5-3 Andrew Gilding
Scott Taylor 5-1 Dennis Nilsson

Final
Ritchie Edhouse 5-4 Scott Taylor

Event Four, Sunday January 27
Full Event Four Results
Last 16

Danny Van Trijp 5-4 Stu Wilson
Boris Koltsov 5-2 Wesley Plaisier
Jason Askew 5-0 Nathan Rafferty
Jerry Hendriks 5-0 Dean Reynolds
Rhys Griffin 5-3 Diogo Portela
Dave Ladley 5-3 Andy Hamilton
Dave Prins 5-3 Ritchie Edhouse
Darren Johnson 5-4 Martin Atkins (Leeds)

Quarter-Finals
Boris Koltsov 5-4 Danny Van Trijp
Jason Askew 5-4 Jerry Hendriks
Dave Ladley 5-0 Rhys Griffin
Dave Prins 5-1 Darren Johnson

Semi-Finals
Boris Koltsov 5-2 Jason Askew
Dave Prins 5-1 Dave Ladley

Final
Boris Koltsov 5-4 Dave Prins