Jurjen van der Velde and Sebastian Bialecki shared the spoils as the 2026 Winmau Development Tour season began in Leicester on Friday.
Over 400 players aged 16-24 competed across two events at the Mattioli Arena, each offering a £3,000 top prize.
Van der Velde claimed Event One, cruising to his sixth Development Tour title with a dominant 5-1 victory over Ireland’s Dylan Slevin. The 23-year-old opened with successive whitewashes, edged past Shane de Jong in a decider and defeated Beau Greaves 4-2 in a clash between the two most recent World Youth Championship runners-up.
Further wins over Owen Bates, Keanu van Velzen and Jenson Walker followed, with Van der Velde averaging over 100 in the semi-finals before sealing the title with a clinical 110 checkout in the final.
Despite losing in the last 32, Greaves impressed, averaging 100.57 across five matches. She produced the tournament’s highest average of 117.88 in a four-leg demolition of Justin Atellinghusen.
Event Two belonged to Bialecki, who defeated James Beeton 5-3 to secure a Development Tour title for the sixth straight year. The 22-year-old dropped just two legs in his opening four matches and averaged nearly 97 to eliminate Walker.
He then edged past Dylan Dowling and Bates before brushing aside Nathan Potter in the semi-finals. After trailing early in the final, Bialecki won the last three legs in 13, 14 and 15 darts to clinch his seventh Development Tour crown.
Van der Velde tops the early rankings, leading Bialecki by £500 ahead of Saturday’s Events 3-4.
Source: PDC.TV
