Adam Sevada made a blistering start to the Championship Darts Circuit season in Niagara Falls, sweeping the first two CDC ProTour events of 2026. The 40-year-old American, who topped the rankings in 2025, added his ninth and tenth CDC ProTour titles to his résumé over the weekend, dropping only three legs in his opening three matches of Event One.
Sevada's first title came the hard way. After a 6-2 quarterfinal win over Michael Nguyen, he survived two match darts in a deciding-leg semifinal against Canadian Jeff Smith, then edged Stowe Buntz 7-6 in another last-leg final, averaging 88.66 across his six wins. A day later, in Event Two, Sevada faced no fewer than 22 match darts against Ram Guevara Jr. in the last 16 but again escaped via a deciding leg. From the quarterfinals onward, he shifted gears, beating Nick Linberg 6-1, Danny Young 7-4, and cruising past Brayden Hall 7-2 with a 97 average to complete a perfect weekend.
Meanwhile, Leonard Gates delivered an almost flawless display in the US Darts Masters qualifier, dropping only ten legs across six matches to secure his fourth appearance at Madison Square Garden. The 55-year-old American began with wins over Canadians Nathan Humphries and Justin Fawcett, shutting out the latter, then defeated Garrett French 5-2, Charlie Harrison 5-1 (averaging 92.85), and BJ Pollock. In the final against Brad Farley, Gates trailed 3-1 but rallied with four straight legs to book his ticket.
Thanks to his double triumph, Sevada leads the CDC ProTour rankings after two events and is now a leading favorite to qualify for the US Darts Masters in New York later this season. The next two CDC ProTour events will be played from 06/05/2025 to 06/07/2025 in Philadelphia, where a second US Darts Masters qualifier is also scheduled.