Jamai van den Herik and Yorick Hofkens both got their hands on titles on Saturday, with the two players splitting the honours across Events 18 and 19 of the Development Tour in Hildesheim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van den Herik claimed his opening title of 2026, and Hofkens landed the first Development Tour win of his career, as Halle 39 played host to a bumper turnout of over 290 players all chasing the \u00a33,000 top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The afternoon started off brightly, as Archie Self pinned the perfect leg in his last 256 contest against Valerie Niedenfuehr, also averaging upwards of 111 on his way to a whitewash victory over the German.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Van den Herik who halted the young Englishman, as the Dutchman beat Self in a dramatic last-leg decider in the last 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three-time Winmau Development Tour title winner kicked off his Event 18 campaign with a gruelling last-leg victory over Finlay Cleave, before dispatching Justin Atellinghusen and Alfie Hutton by the same 4-1 scoreline to race into the last 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 23-year-old dispatched of Self before beating two PDC Tour Card Holders in quick succession, defeating German Dominik Gruellich 4-2, while later denying Owen Bates a second title in Hildesheim, beating the Englishman 5-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van den Herik would then win his second successive last-leg decider, beating Belgian Mylo Michiels, winning four out of the last five legs to seal his spot in the Event 18 showpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman faced compatriot Angelo Balsamo in the final, as the pair traded blows for the first six legs, before Van den Herik won back-to-back legs in just 30 darts to clinch the title and the \u00a33,000 top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn’t to be for Van den Herik in Event 19, as the Dutchman was defeated by Cody Crabtree in the last 32 to end the hopes of a double on German soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, it was Hofkens who successfully picked up his maiden Winmau Development Tour title, defeating former UK Open semi-finalist Adam Gawlas in a brutal last-leg decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hofkens opened his account with victory over Event 18 finalist Balsamo, before winning back-to-back games 4-1 against Tim Hoffmann and James Buckby respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The German Tour Card Holder fought back from 3-1 down in his contest against Danio Aalders to beat the Dutchman 4-3, before beating Cody Crabtree in the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 19-year-old produced his best performance in the quarter-finals, racing past Jenson Walker with a 5-0 victory, before defeating another Crabtree – this time Cam Crabtree – 5-3 to set up his clash with Gawlas in the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gawlas kicked off proceedings with back-to-back legs to lead early, before Hofkens rattled off three legs of his own to lead 3-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Czech star responded with consecutive legs to regain the lead once again, before the German responded with two legs of his own, sealing the victory with a 14-dart break of throw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van den Herik’s victory pushes the Dutchman into seventh on the Development Tour rankings, whilst Hofkens jumps to fourteenth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sebastian Bialecki still has a \u00a310,050 lead at the top of the table despite being ineligible to play, whilst Jack Drayton, Crabtree and Leon Weber all sit on over \u00a311,000 as they bid to claim the remaining World Championship spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This weekend\u2019s Development Tour action continues on Sunday August 2 with Event 20, before returning in Wigan for the final four events from October 3-4, before the World Youth Championship on October 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top two players from the 2026 Development Tour rankings will each win a PDC Tour Card for 2027-28, while the top three ranked players will earn a place in the 2026\/27 Paddy Power World Darts Championship. Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Event 19<\/strong> Semi-Finals<\/strong> Final<\/strong> Nine-Darter!<\/strong> Jamai van den Herik and Yorick Hofkens both got their hands on titles on Saturday, with the two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-15267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Event 18
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Sam Jackson 5-1 Charlie Manby
Angelo Balsamo 5-1 Cam Crabtree
Mylo Michiels 5-0 David Fidler
Jamai van den Herik 5-4 Owen Bates<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angelo Balsamo 5-1 Sam Jackson
Jamai van den Herik 5-4 Mylo Michiels<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jamai van den Herik 5-3 Angelo Balsamo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quarter-Finals
<\/strong>Adam Gawlas 5-2 Ieuan Halsall
Dylan Slevin 5-3 Lenny Schlueter
Cam Crabtree 5-0 Milan Biro
Yorick Hofkens 5-0 Jenson Walker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adam Gawlas 5-4 Dylan Slevin
Yorick Hofkens 5-3 Cam Crabtree<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adam Gawlas v Yorick Hofkens<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Archie Self hit a nine-darter in his last 256 tie against Valerie Niedenfuehr in Event 18.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"