Keane Barry and Jurjen van der Velde were the event winners as the 2024 Winmau Development Tour continued in Milton Keynes on Saturday.

A record number of entrants got the action underway on Friday with Netherlands’ Danny Jansen claiming Event One and Ireland’s Keane Barry taking Event Two in a last leg shootout against 2023 Development Tour Order of Merit winner Gian van Veen.

Events Three and Four were up for grabs on Saturday before Event Five draws the weekend’s action to a close on Sunday.

Barry Goes Back To Back With Event Three Win

Former UK Open semi finalist Keane Barry backed up his Event Two win on Friday by taking the Event Three honours in the first instalment of Saturday’s action.

The world ranked number 43 started his day with a whitewash win over Vincent Nouws before seeing off Cayden Smith 4-2 and edging a last leg decider with Keanu van Velzen having been 3-2 behind.

James Beeton and Christopher Toonders were then both beaten by the same 4-2 scoreline, victory in the latter securing a spot in the quarter finals.

A 5-1 over Owen Maiden set up a semi final with Lennon Cradock, Cradock having defeated Gian van Veen in his quarter final. Barry had too much for Cradock, reaching setting up a final with Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki without dropping a leg.

The final also turned out to be one way traffic also as Barry eased to a 5-0 victory for his second event win in as many days and the seventh Development Tour title of his career.

Van Der Velde Takes Event Four Spoils

Dutchman Jurjen van der Velde claimed the third Development Tour title of his career as he claimed Event Four.

After making the Last 32 in Event Three before falling to compatriot Gian van Veen, van der Velde kicked off Event Four with a 4-0 win over another Dutchman in Nicky van Aalst and he followed that up with another whitewash win, this time over Joshua Poxon.

A tough looking tie against semi finalist from Event Three Lennon Cradock was next, van der Velde earning a deciding leg victory before a more comfortable 4-1 win over Wales’ Jake Powell.

A near 94 average saw van der Velde see off the challenge of Beau Greaves in the Last 32 for the loss of a single leg before another deciding leg win saw Germany’s Niklas Fahrenholz beaten in the next round.

Scotland’s Nathan Girvan was van der Velde’s quarter final opponent, the Dutchman easing through 5-1 before beating Event Three finalist Sebastian Bialecki 5-0 in his semi final.

Tour card holder Leighton Bennett was the man to stand between van der Velde and title honours and it was the man from The Netherlands that claimed the title, another whitewash win meaning he only lost a single leg across the quarters, semi and final.

Other News

Keane Barry’s run to the quarter finals In Event Four means he has reached at least that stage in all four events so far. He has earned almost twice as much as the second placed Danny Jansen in the Order of Merit standings after four events.

The latest Order of Merit standings can be seen here.

Dutch youngster Wessel Nijman was responsible for two of the biggest averages of the day. He averaged 111.33 in a second round win over Alfie Fiskin on his way to the semi finals of Event Three while he averaged 105.22 in his Last 32 clash with Keenan Thomas in Event Four.

Results

2024 Winmau Development Tour

Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes

Saturday February 24

Event Three

Quarter-Finals

Lennon Cradock 5-3 Gian van Veen

Keane Barry 5-1 Owen Maiden

Wessel Nijman 5-4 Beau Greaves

Sebastian Bialecki 5-0 Harry Gregory

Semi-Finals

Keane Barry 5-0 Lennon Cradock

Sebastian Bialecki 5-4 Wessel Nijman

Final

Keane Barry 5-0 Sebastian Bialecki

Event Four

Quarter-Finals

Lloyd Walker 5-2 Keiron Thompson

Jurjen van der Velde 5-1 Nathan Girvan

Sebastian Bialecki 5-4 Keane Barry

Leighton Bennett 5-1 Dominik Gruellich

Semi-Finals

Jurjen van der Velde 5-0 Lloyd Walker

Leighton Bennett 5-1 Sebastian Bialecki

Final

Jurjen van der Velde 5-0 Leighton Bennett