Three talented young darts players from Ceredigion have represented the Wales B team in Gibraltar, competing against the best junior darts players from across the world.

Llinos Thomas, 17, from Llanfair Clydogau, secured her third Welsh cap and captained the team. She was joined by 17-year-old Oliver Thomas from Cefneithin and Elonwy Thomas, 14, from Llanfair Clydogau, both achieving their second caps, and 13-year-old debutant, Sion Davies, from Llangeitho.

All four qualified for selection through Lampeter’s Bedlam Junior Darts Academy. Llinos and Elonwy also play for teams in the Lampeter and Llanybydder Darts Leagues, Elonwy also plays for Glamorgan County Youth, and Oliver plays in the Llanelli Darts League.

The week of competition between 20-27 November, kicked off in the Europa Point Stadium at the southern most tip of Gibraltar, with the Captains’ Cup tournament.

Llinos had a tough draw against the England A captain, who is the current JDC Tour Champion, but despite a 2-0 defeat she played well and had chances to take both legs.

The following day was the World Cup team event. This year saw 26 teams from 20 nations competing, travelling from as far afield as Canada, Mongolia, Australia and South Africa. Wales B were drawn in a very difficult group, which included reigning champions England A, as well as the outstanding talents of Germany A, Netherlands B, Belgium A, Australia A and Ireland B.

Wales played some excellent games and secured some good points, but unfortunately not enough to take them through to the knock-out stages.

The ‘one leg shoot out’ style of the World Cup games makes play very exciting and rather nerve racking – the highlights for Wales were the Australia game, which went all the way to a deciding leg, and Elonwy’s game against the England A player, who currently holds several titles including current World Youth champion. Unluckily, Elonwy missed her outshot to take the win.

The next two days saw the Gibraltar International Open, and the MVG Masters being held, with players competing individually in a straight knock-out format.

Again, the Wales B players played with determination and spirit and put some excellent performances in throughout the day, giving several more experienced players a run for their money. Sion made it through to the top 64 before succumbing to an England A player (and by now, a member of the 2022 World Cup winning team)

The biggest event, the World Championships, took place on the Thursday, played down to the final two who will contest the title on stage at the Ally Pally in December.

This was another group stage competition with the top two from each group going forward to the knock-out stages.

Unfortunately, none of the Ceredigion youngsters made it out of their groups, but all played incredibly well against a very high standard of youth players, highlighted by Sion hitting a personal best average of 80.55 over two legs in his game with a very talented Irish player, but it still not being enough to get him through the group.

All in all, it was a fantastic week in Gibraltar with Ceredigion’s young darters flying the flag for Bedlam Junior Darts Academy and for Wales.

This was the last JDC event for Llinos and Oliver who will turn 18 in 2023, marking the end of their Junior Darts journey.

Their time on the Rock was a fantastic experience which will benefit them for years to come; new friendships have been formed and happy memories made.