Following Richie Howson and Martin Adams, David Cameron and Leonard Gates also secured a spot in the last eight at the World Seniors Darts Matchplay in York. Both men won their opening match at the senior tournament on Friday afternoon.
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Gates captured the title at this tournament last year. The American became the most dominant player on the World Seniors Darts Tour in 2023 by winning three of the four televised tournaments. Only the World Seniors Darts Championship is missing ng on his record.
'The Soulger' played a carefree match against James Richardson, one of the qualifiers at this tournament. Gates won the first three legs of the match and then ran out to a 5-1 lead.
Richardson then narrowed the gap to 5-3, but failed to undo the second break as well. After an 11-darter and an 18-darter, among others, Gates put an 8-5 final score on the scoreboard.
Cameron will also return in the second round of the World Seniors Matchplay. The Canadian won 8-3 in the opening round over Kevin Painter, who was visibly struggling with dartitis and having great difficulty throwing his darts at the board.
The match quickly turned in Cameron's favor, with the first five legs all going to him. Painter managed to cut the deficit to 6-3 with a 156 finish and a 103 check-out, among other things, but defeat proved inevitable.
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Round 1️⃣ - Winner 🥇
The title defence starts with a bang for Leonard Gates 🕺
The Soulger will return tomorrow on @tntsports in the Quarter-Finals of the @betgoodwinuk World Seniors Matchplay