Tristan Bognar and Tiah Walsh claimed the first WDF ranking titles of 2025 as the year's events began in Australia with the Junior Pacific Masters.
16-year-old Bognar won his third WDF Youth ranking title in the Boys Masters, defeating fellow Queenslander Claude Miller 5-2 in a good-quality final.
After taking a nervy opening leg, Bognar produced a 15-dart break of throw to double his advantage. Miller immediately broke back to halve the deficit but was unable to hold his throw, with Bognar taking out 47 before producing a 14-dart hold to move 4-1 up.
Miller responded in kind, throwing a 14-darter of his own that included a 180, but he couldn't make further inroads, Bognar sealing victory with a 21-dart hold.
Bognar, who averaged 75.62 in the final, had been the pick of the field throughout the day's play. He topped his round-robin group with six wins from six for the loss of just one leg.
That campaign included a win over 2024 winner Letrell Allen and Bognar continued in similar fashion in the knockout stages, recording back-to-back whitewashes to reach the semis.
He came through a battle there, rallying from 3-1 down and surviving a host of match darts to defeat South Australia's Lucas Brow 4-3.
Miller, meanwhile, enjoyed his best-ever run in a WDF Youth event. After coming through the groups, the Queenslander saw off Ollie Wade, Dieter Buhner and Brock Harrison in the knockout stage for the loss of just two legs to reach the final.
Boys Pacific Masters | Quarter-Finals
Brock Harrison 3-1 Jeremy Hengsen
Claude Miller 3-1 Dieter Buhner
Tristan Bognar 3-0 Kelviston Parker
Lucas Brow 3-1 Mitchell Galby
Semi-Finals
Miller 4-1 Harrison
Bognar 4-3 Brown
Final
Bognar (75.62) 5-2 (73.23) Miller
The Girls Pacific Masters also produced an all-Queensland final and also saw a player with past WDF title success triumph again as Tiah Walsh beat Amy Forrest.
The pair had been in the same round-robin group, with Walsh winning that meeting 2-1 as she topped the group. Walsh then went through the knockout stages, beating Taini Hoffmann, Ashleigh Ringuet-Pourau and Brianna Pickett to make the final.
Forrest had had more of a battle in the knockouts, surviving a last-leg decider with Emily Jarvis in the quarter-finals before beating Amelia Stanton in the semis to make her first WDF Youth final.
Forrest had chances in every leg of the final other than the first but was unable to find success on the outer ring, with Walsh running out a comfortable 4-0 winner in the end.
Girls Pacific Masters | Quarter-Finals
Tiah Walsh 2-0 Ashleigh Ringuet-Pourau
Brianna Pickett 2-1 Maddison Mabbott
Amy Forrest 2-1 Emily Jarvis
Amelia Stanton 2-1 Samara Ugle
Semi-Final
Walsh 3-1 Pickett
Forrest 3-1 Stanton
Final
Walsh (42.94) 4-0 (39.57) Forrest
