AFTER his victory in the Harlow u-19 competition, Thomas ‘Bulldog’ Banks travelled to Coventry to take part in a tournament where the other competitors were former world champion John Lowe, world number 29 Vincent van der Voort, world number 26 Daryl Gurney, Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock, 5-time World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld and 16 time world champion Phil The Power Taylor.

The Bulldog had an incredibly tough draw against Vincent van der Voort in the quarter final, however he mauled his vastly more experienced opponent, defeating him 4-0 with a hugely impressive 96 average, to put this into context that is equal or better to 5 of the 8 averages in the most recent World Darts championship. 

In the semi-final Thomas played 5-time world champion Raymond Van Barneveld, himself fresh off being narrowly defeated by current world champion Michael Smith in the Bahrain Darts masters. Thomas was unfortunately defeated xx-xx and while the score line suggests a one-way game, this couldn’t be further from the truth as the Bulldog had darts at double in each leg. These experiences are vital for Thomas at the moment in his young darts career, and can only make him stronger going forward. 

This weekend Thomas is in arguably the biggest game of his career so far as he plays in the final of the JDC Super 16 event against the current JDC world champion Luke Littler.

This game is being played on the stage at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes during the PDC Masters competition. Good luck Thomas.