Sam Hewson and George Killington claimed their maiden victories on the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.
The two English youngsters claimed the £1,000 winners prizes on offer in Saturday’s double-header, becoming the fifth and sixth different winners in this year’s PDC Unicorn Youth Tour.
Hewson won his first PDC Unicorn Youth Tour title in Wigan on Saturday, which started with defeats of Killington and Martin Walker before narrow victories over Lewis Venes and Josh Payne secured a semi-final spot.
The 20-year-old from Lincolnshire defeated Matthew Dicken 4-1 to reach the final, where he comfortably defeated Holland’s John De Kruijf to claim the £1,000 winner’s prize.
De Kruijf reached his first final on the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour since August 2012 in a run which included wins over Nick Kenny and Kevin Voornhout.
In the semi-finals, the Dutchman recorded an excellent 4-1 victory over former World Youth Champion James Hubbard before crumbling in the decider to Hewson, ending his hopes of a maiden title.
West Bromwich’s Matthew Dicken enjoyed his best-ever run in a Youth Tour event with a run to the semi-finals, while Hubbard continued his strong form with a run to the last four, following his semi-final appearance a fortnight ago in a PDC ProTour event.
Leicestershire’s James Thompson enjoyed his best performance in a PDC Unicorn Youth Tour event for 12 months by making the quarter-finals, while Payne, Reece Robinson and Dirk van Duijvenbode reached the same stage following strong displays in Wigan.
In the second tournament of the day, Killington produced an excellent display to claim his first PDC Unicorn Youth tour title.
The 17-year-old from North London whitewashed Scott Johnson in his first round game before coming through the next two rounds with tight 4-3 wins over Tom Anderson and Hull’s Reece Robinson.
Killington, who turns 18 next month, continued his progress with a 4-2 win over Tommy Wilson before breezing through his next two matches for the loss of just one leg to the Dutch duo of Mike Zuydwijk and Kevin Voornhout.
That put Killington through to his first Youth Tour Final since September 2012, and this time he went one better and he defeated another 17-year-old, in the shape of German Max Hopp 4-2 to round-off an excellent display.
Hopp, who has shown his talent on the big stage after qualifying for the World Championship for the past two years, won his first two matches against Jake Patchett and Liam Gallagher by 4-1 margins before edging tight contests against Dean Finn and Lewis Venes.
Hopp defeated Steve Lennon 4-2 in his quarter-final to reach the last four of a Youth Tour event for the first time, where he overcame Hubbard by the same margin.
However, the 17-year-old’s hopes of claiming his maiden title in a PDC competition were ended by Killington following a 4-2 defeat, having to settle for the £500 runners-up prize.
Holland’s Voornhout – who holds a PDC Tour Card – produced his best performance in a Youth Tour event with an excellent run to the last four.
2012 PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Hubbard reached the semi-finals for the second time in the day, but fell to a 4-2 loss to Hopp, ending his hopes of winning a third Youth Tour title.
Zuydwijk, already a winner on this year’s Youth Tour, reached the last eight in Wigan, while Doncaster’s Brandon Walsh matched his best result by reaching the quarter-finals at Youth Tour level for the third time.
Ireland’s Lennon and 19-year-old Jack Tweddell enjoyed their best runs in a Youth Tour event to date by reaching the quarter-finals of Event Six.