The first SDC Tour weekend of the new season began last weekend in Basel. One hundred players took part in the first event. A total of 89 SDC Tour cardholders registered, while 11 reserve players got the chance to play.
Games were played in 32 groups, 28 3-player groups and four 4-player groups. Only the top two advanced to the round of the last 64. After the group stage was completed, there was a big surprise in the round of the last 64. Rocco Fulciniti suffered a 2-4 defeat against Ivo Furer. A round later, Tomas Seyler's debut was over with a 2-4 defeat against Alessandro Tocci. Lukas Sekinger, Tomi Vilcnik, Patrick Ganter, Patrick Rey and Conor Styger were also eliminated in the same round.
In the round of 16, two matches were tied until the last moment. Scotland's Barry Nelson beat Frieder Lang, while Christoph Schuhmann caused a surprise by eliminating Jochen Graudenz with a 4-3 victory.
In the quarter-finals, we saw another brilliant match between Marcel Walpen and
Stefan Bellmont, the two players who will form a team in the World Cup of Darts. Walpen took a 4-1 lead with checkouts of 92, 116 and 141. But he could not finish it off. Bellmont won four legs in a row to secure his place in the semi-finals. This performance was also achieved by Ansh Sood (5-2 win over Benjamin Brügin), Luis Camacho (5-3 win over Christoph Schuhmann) and Thierry Arpagaus (5-3 win over Barry Nelson).
Bellmont became the first finalist of the new season. After trailing 0-2 against Ansh Sood, he won 6 of the next 7 legs to win 6-3. Sood impressed by reaching the semi-finals in his first-ever darts tournament and showed an excellent level of play. In the other semi-final, Thierry Arpagaus defeated Luis Camacho 6-4.
The final started with three legs going with the darts. In the fourth leg, Bellmont provided the first break by throwing a 68 checkout for a 14-darter. He took advantage of this break to extend his lead to 4-1. In the sixth leg, Arpagaus was about to throw double 16 in his own 12-dart leg, but he had no chance. Bellmont threw double 8 for a double break and took a 5-1 lead. Arpagaus managed to answer with a 116 checkout in the next leg to secure a rebreak; 5-2. However, Arpagaus could not get further than that. Bellmont won the last two legs, including a 116 checkout, to win 7-2. With this win, 'Belli' also earns a free ticket to the PDC Q-School 2024.
Semifinals
Stefan Bellmont 6-3 Ansh Sood
Thierry Arpagaus 6-4 Luis Camacho
Final
Stefan Bellmont 7-2 Thierry Arpagaus
