Leonard Gates continued his recent good form by claiming his second WDF ranking title of the year at the Missouri St. Patrick's Open this past weekend.
The man nickname 'Soulger' breezed through the field on the way to retaining his title in Osage Beach, averaging 92 in his first game and reaching the final without dropping a single leg.
Those performances were in sharp contrast to final opponent Kevin Luke. 'FKL' had to survive last-leg deciders in his first two games and then had to do the same again in the semi-finals against previous event winner Dustin Holt.
Luke had averaged below 70 in all of his tournament matches and that gap in quality told in the final, with Gates throwing two maximums and averaging 81.77 in a 6-2 win.
Missouri St. Patrick's Open | Men's Quarter-Finals
Leonard Gates 4-0 Brendan Dickerson
Cody Willis 4-2 Ronnie Maggard
Kevin Luke 4-2 Danny McClain
Dustin Holt 4-3 Tyler Daly
Semi-Finals
Gates 5-0 Willis
Luke 5-4 Holt
Final
Gates 6-2 Luke
Maiden title for McKinley
With 2023 winner Paula Murphy not participating this time round, a new winner was guaranteed in the Women's Open.
Step forward Kaitlyn McKinley, who produced a string of solid wins to claim her first WDF ranking title.
McKinley was pushed to a last-leg decider in the quarter-finals by Brittany Short but won that game 4-3 and from that point didn't drop another leg, beating Tasha Nicole in the semis before seeing off Hannah Smiley 4-0 in the final.
Missouri St. Patrick's Open | Women's Quarter-Finals
Kaitlyn McKinley 4-3 Brittany Short
Tasha Nicole 4-2 Angela Tomecko
Ambir Pruett 4-0 Kelly Hammond
Hannah Smiley 4-1 Carisa Murphy
Semi-Finals
McKinley 4-0 Nicole
Smiley 4-2 Pruett
Final
McKinley 4-0 Smiley
