World No. 1’s Damien Mudge & Ben Gould avenged their 2014 PDC Cup final loss against Manek Mathur & Yvain Badan in dominant fashion, the defending champions 15-4, 15-10, 15-4, to reclaim the title at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
Their third PDC title in just as many years (including two titles in 2013 when the event was played in fall and spring) marks three titles in three tournaments so far this season for the Australian powerhouse, adding to the Maryland Club Open and Big Apple Open last weekend.
Mudge & Gould dropped only one game along their title run which came in the quarterfinals against Graham Bassett & Jeff Osborne, who had upset Trinity Bantams Randy Lim & Shaun Johnstone in the first round.
Saturday presented a difficult challenge for the four remaining teams, with the semifinals taking place at noon, and the final scheduled for later that evening.
The top two seeds were both sure to advance in three games, with Mudge & Gould taking out four seeds Viktor Berg & Hamed Anvari, 15-9, 15-6, 15-11, and Mathur & Badan over fellow Bantam Jonny Smith & Greg Park, 15-14, 15-9, 15-6, setting up a replay of the 2014 final that saw Mathur & Badan upset the top seeds in four games.
This weekend was a different story, however, as Mudge & Gould powered through the final, dropping the least amount points in a match all tournament 15-4, 15-10, 15-4.
“Anytime you play two matches in one day it’s important to be as efficient as possible, which is what we were able to do,” Mudge said. “Last year definitely left a bad taste in our mouths, so we were able focus ourselves to play our best. We played a very smart game and executed extremely well hitting our targets and having great positioning.”
What has become a PDC traditional black tie event ensued following the final.
“The PDC are great hosts,” Mudge added. “They run a very good tournament and hospitality is second to none.”
Mudge & Gould now have the opportunity to make it three titles in three weekends as the top seeds in the Bentley Cup in Toronto.
Watch the PDC Cup replay below: