Keegan Brown and Rowby-John Rodriguez will contest the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship Final on May 22, after winning through Saturday’s early rounds of the £50,000 event in Reading.
Isle of Wight-based Brown, a PDC Youth Tour winner in 2012 who has since claimed two wins over Phil Taylor on the PDC ProTour circuit, claimed arguably the best achievement of his career to date as he came through the Last 64.
After overcoming Shaun Lovett 6-2 in the first round, he produced a superb display to whitewash Australia’s Robbie King in the Last 32, before defeating Dutch youngster Ryan De Vreede 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
He then knocked out number one seed Adam Hunt with a 6-3 win before securing his spot in next month’s final with a 6-2 defeat of top Dutch ace Dirk van Duijvenbode.
“It’s a massive day for me, a life-changer,” admitted Brown. “I’ve been practising for four hours a day since Christmas Day, and this was the day I wanted the practice to pay off so thankfully it did.
“As much as I had scorelines of 6-2, 6-1 or 6-0, it was almost too tough at times! I played a very good Australian in Robbie King, every time I play Adam Hunt it’s always a good game, and the scoreline against Dirk probably didn’t reflect the game so I was glad to get the results.
“I’m so happy to be at The O2, and also in the Grand Slam of Darts, and hopefully I can win and get the place in the World Championship too.
“I’m only 21 so it would be nice to put my name on this trophy alongside the likes of Arron Monk, James Hubbard and Michael Smith, who’ve come through the Youth Tour system.”
Brown’s opponent on stage at The O2 in London – with the final being held on the same evening as the Betway Premier League Darts Play-Offs on May 22 – will be emerging Austrian Rowby-John Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, who turned 20 last month, was a winner on the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour last year and won a Tour Card in January before joining Brown in qualifying for the Coral UK Open last month.
However, he will also enjoy the biggest day of his career when he competes at The O2.
The number two seed knocked out John Seagrave 6-1 in the first round before whitewashing Tom Sykes, and he then defeated Ben Songhurst 6-3 and Dean Reynolds 6-2 to reach his decider against Kurt Parry, which he won 6-3.
“I have no words to describe how I feel – this is my dream and it’s come true. To be on the big stage is a dream for me,” said an overwhelmed Rodriguez. “It’s a big step for me.
“I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so nervous and I just wanted to come here and play my own game, and it happened for me. It’s unbelievable.
“Both myself and Keegan know that we can play good darts, and the best player on the day will win. I’ll keep practising now and we’ll see what happens next month.”
As well as succeeding Michael Smith as the PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion, the winner of May’s final will also qualify for the PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace.
Both players will also now compete in the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.
Welsh ace Parry – who hit a nine-darter during last year’s World Youth Championship – had defeated Andrew Ryan, Lewis Venes, Cain Unwin and Reece Robinson on the day, and took home £2,500 to soften the blow of his semi-final defeat.
Van Duijvenbode also took home £2,500, having enjoyed wins over Samuel Fuller, Arron Fairweather, Brandon Walsh and Jack Tweddell before losing out to Brown.
Top seed Hunt was joined by Tweddell, Robinson and Reynolds in losing out in the quarter-finals, where they each won £1,500, while Dutch trio Kevin Voornhout, Ryan De Vreede and Jimmy Hendriks all reached the last 16, alongside Belgian youngster Dimitri Van Den Bergh.