This article was originally published on Darts Planet TV’s writing platform. Click here to view the piece on their website.
Once upon a time, emerging youngsters were afraid to face the esteemed names they looked up to. Nowadays, they are fearless. Keane Barry, Adam Gawlas and Lewis Williams are prime examples of that, having bursted onto the scene without batting an eyelid.
Former junior world champion Barry secured professional status almost 12 months ago after winning two PDC Development Tour titles and therefore finishing runner-up in the overall rankings, before Williams and Gawlas joined him months later via Qualifying School.
Both Barry and Gawlas had already achieved notable feats prior to sealing places within the professional ranks, with the Irishman overcoming Gawlas to triumph at the Junior World Championship two years ago. However, Williams has arguably been the more impressive, already reaching a ranking semi-final.
“Keane and Adam are both quality young players,” Welshman Williams said. “It’s good to see us youngsters coming up and there’s plenty more youngsters not on the tour with bright futures. It’s safe to say darts is in a good place at the minute.”
Barry added: “They’re both great players and fair play to them for qualifying [for Hungary]. It’s great to see young players doing well like myself.” Gawlas, meanwhile, echoed those sentiments. “Keane and Lewis are talented boys,” he said. “They are both doing great.”
Swansea-born Williams has come on leaps and bounds since enjoying a valiant run as an amateur qualifier at last year’s UK Open, where he brushed aside pending Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa and former semi-finalist Robert Owen.
Some players find acclimatising to the circuit relatively difficult, though, that certainly wasn’t the case for Williams. The 19-year-old based in Liverpool defeated Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts and former world number one Michael van Gerwen to reach the quarter-finals on his ProTour debut in February.
That extremely swift adaptation to the professional scene Williams puts down to the guidance of his practice partner, who’s none other than major champion and Premier League star Nathan Aspinall.
“Nathan is a quality lad and a great practice partner to have,” Williams expressed. “Before even getting my tour card, I’d say he helped me a lot mentally and ability-wise, which I believe helped me adapt to life on the tour fairly easily.
“I think I’ve settled in well to life on the tour, getting some big scalps straight away by beating the likes of Dimi [Van den Bergh] and MVG, I feel very comfortable and feel like it’s just getting better and better.”
He added: “I’m buzzing for my first Euro Tour event, I can’t wait to experience the crowd and my first PDC walk-on. I’m just looking to enjoy it and let the darts flow and hopefully the results come with it.”
In preparation for his anticipated European Tour debut at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in the Hungarian capital, Williams has attended various local competitions such as the Cleveland Open and Cheshire Open, the latter of which he was a beaten finalist.
“I think it’s really important to do what you feel like is right and I feel by playing local comps that is great practice as everyone wants to beat you, so you know you’ve always got a game on your hands,” he said.
Reaching the World Championship at Alexandra Palace come the end of the season would be a ‘dream come true’ for Williams. Somebody who has already experienced the people’s palace is Irishman Barry.
The former Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay champion appeared at the World Championship on two occasions before even securing his professional tour card, and reached his maiden ranking quarter-final last month.
“I think I have adapted well into the professional circuit,” Barry expressed. “I feel comfortable and feel myself improving all the time. Missing three events [after testing Covid-positive] when playing so well obviously stung a bit, but I had a couple of good runs to make up for it.
“Every time I play I’m learning. If I make mistakes or anything, I always have to learn from that to be a better player and playing such a high level, there’s no room for error.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend. I was absolutely delighted to have qualified for this European Tour, so to make my debut this weekend will be special. Practice has been going good and I’m feeling confident.”
With Duleek-born Barry currently residing in Eastern Europe alongside his Czech girlfriend Barbora, this weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy is the closest competition for the 19-year-old, what with the Czech Darts Open not on the calendar this season.
“At the moment I’m living kind of half-and-half between the Czech Republic and Ireland,” Barry added. “We travelled down by train yesterday, I wouldn’t necessarily call it an advantage as it was around 12 hours travelling, but it’s a nice change from getting flights all the time.”
Barry has frequently travelled to and from the Czech Republic alongside Czech World Cup of Darts teammates Karel Sedlacek and Gawlas, another teenage talent who heads to Hungary this weekend.
Gawlas remarkably reached the 2019 World Youth Championship final a mere eight months after throwing his first ever three darts. Natural is an understatement, and being a fully fledged professional only two years later is even more staggering.
“I’ve spent lots of hours on the practice board,” 19-year-old Gawlas revealed. “I was at my first tournament in the Czech Republic after just two months playing darts. I ended fourth in the juniors and I started practising eight hours a day.
“I gave it everything I had and it shows like that. I’m really happy with what I’ve achieved. When I started I was telling myself ‘it would be nice to play with these big names’ and now I am here and I am very happy.”
A prodigiously-talented trio appear on stage at the same tournament for the first time in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. And, whatever happens, they undoubtedly have propitious careers ahead of them.
