Nico Bado continues mesmerising route to success as he keeps Gibraltar well stamped on the Junior's darts map

Young darts talent Nico Bado continued his mesmerising route to stamping his name on Gibraltar darts history books with another weekend of success. His achievements receiving recognition from across the Gibraltar darts fraternity, Minister for Sport and Winmau itself.
The young Gibraltarian darts talent won the 9th event on the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) Tour 2023.
His win now sees him ranked fifth overall but given technicalities with one of the players currently in the top 5 he is in a strong position to secure one of the four available tour cards for the Advanced Tour next year.
Minister for Sport, Steven Linares, congratulated Nico adding: “Given that I have been following local darts and in particular the junior scene closely I am not in the least bit surprised by Nico’s achievement. He is another in a long line of products from the GDA Academy. He is performing consistently at the top level and I wish him all the best for his event in the Netherlands this coming weekend and the final tour event in the UK in mid-June. I am confident he can achieve a tour card for the Advanced Tour for next season. A special mention to the GDA and his support network who have no doubt been instrumental in providing the platform for this young man’s achievements to date. Well Done!”.
Nico’s achievements were also well publicised across the international darts scene with Josh Green reporting for Winmau publishing only a report under the title “A FIRST FOR BADO - TEAM 360 ROUND UP.”
In a report published online wrote, “…Away from the Development Tour, Nico Bado was in terrific form on the JDC Foundation Tour. He collected his first JDC title in Coventry on Saturday, defeating Jack Nankervis in the final. The Gibraltarian needed a last leg decider to see off Steven Ivey, but rampaged through the following three round dropping just one leg.
“He then put the finishing touches to a fantastic display, by defeating Nankervis, who won the weekend’s three other events.”
Nico’s success was also closely followed by another young Gibraltar darts talent as Justin Hewitt playing in the professional darts corporation development tour 6-10 stamped his mark .
Justin Hewitt’s performance include a semi final and a quarter final . “The highlight of the weekend was wiring double 12 for a perfect 9 darter and a 7 perfect darts in another game . He also did a 10 and 11 darter.”
During the weekend Justin hit
18x180s, 1x177, 1x171
And high finishes of 150, 136, 130, 121 and 100.
Following 10 events played Justin is now in 27th position out of 315 players in the order of merit rankings and puts him in a great position to qualify for the professional darts corporation under 24 World Championship to be played in August .

Nico Bado also made history last week becoming the GDA Youth National Champion 2023.
The 2023 GDA Youth National Championship was a showcase of the immense talent and potential of our future generation of players. Amidst the outstanding performances from our young athletes, one name stood out - Nico Bado.
Bado, a young prodigy in the making, clinched his first-ever National Championship title in style and etched his name in the history books. He made history by becoming the first-ever youth player to win all six rankings in a single season, a feat that speaks volumes about his prowess and potential.
But Bado wasn’t the only star of the tournament. Casey Dyer, a rising talent in his own right, put up a solid display of darts and reached the final. The competition also saw the emergence of newcomer Ethan Pulham, who showed great promise by reaching the semi-finals in only his second ranking.
In the final showdown, Bado proved to be too hot to handle for Dyer, securing a convincing 4-1 win and cementing his position as the champion of champions.
But the significance of this tournament goes beyond just the title. The team that will be representing the country at the WDF European Cup Youth has been confirmed, with Bado leading the Boys team. The team comprises of Casey Dyer, Nicky Fortunato, and Dylan Saxby - all of whom have proven their mettle on the big stage.
On the Girls’ team, Tarika Ward has been selected, and her partner is yet to be determined.
The 2023 GDA Youth National Championship was a thrilling experience for everyone involved, and we would like to thank all the spectators who came out in full force to support our future champions.
The future of the sport looks brighter than ever before said the GDA