Ireland’s Jack Courtney and Aidan O’Hara have been crowned WDF World Cup Youth pairs champions following a nerve-shredding final win over Turkey in South Korea.
The Irish teenagers showed their mettle to come from behind to win gold and spark wild celebrations among the Irish contingent in Seoul.
Tipperary 17-year-old O’Hara will have the chance to make it a World Cup double when he competes in the final of the singles competition on Saturday.
It was 16-year-old Carlow player Courtney who hit the winning double as they beat the Turkish pair of Kerem Calikiran and Toprak Aras 5-4 in a thrilling final.
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It didn’t start too well for the Irish boys as they fell 2-0 down early on, with Turkey also missing chances at doubles to move into a 3-0 lead that might have been just too tough to come back from.
Having won that crucial third leg, Courtney and O’Hara then levelled up a match that remained tight from there on in.
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Turkey again appeared to have taken a crucial advantage when they broke the Irish boys’ throw to go 4-3 up, but Courtney and O’Hara didn’t panic as they blitzed through the next two legs in just 37 darts to be crowned World Cup champions.
Their manager Paddy Cullen couldn’t hide his delight at their incredible achievement.
“It’s absolutely brilliant, I am buzzing,” Cullen said in the immediate aftermath of the final.
“These two boys are powerhouses when they need to be. Hopefully this win now will push Aidan on in the singles final on Saturday.”
