Ahri Daniels picked up his prize for winning The Royal Gazette Fantasy League yesterday.

Daniels, who at the age of 19 is the youngest winner in the 11-year history of The Royal Gazette competition, takes home $1,000 just four years after he finished second when picking the team entered by his father.

The student at Western University in Ontario, Canada, is back in Bermuda and was happy to be collecting his prize in person from The Royal Gazette editor Dexter Smith at the newspaper’s offices on Par-la-Ville Road.

“It feels good because I’ve gone one better than a few years ago,” said Daniels, who ended on 2,622 points. “I played when I was 15 and finished second after going into the final week in front.”

The teenager was happy to give away some of the secrets of his success and is looking forward to taking part again next year.

“I think a lot of it is luck but I have a good knowledge of football and take a look at the fixtures and pick players based on that,” he said.

“Most of the time the day before the deadline, I take a look at the team and if any of them have bad fixtures I transfer them out.

“I try to save most of the chips for double gameweeks to maximise the points and saving my chips for the end of the season made them count late on.”

Jay Webster, who won $500 for finishing runner-up with 2,611 points, held the lead for a number of weeks towards the end of the season but was just touched off by Daniels’s fast finish. He described losing out on top spot as “bittersweet”.

“At the start of the season second place would have been fantastic but towards the end I led for about eight weeks,” Webster said.

“It was bittersweet in the end as I was in the lead for quite a while, but I was hanging on as I used my chips quite early, so I knew it was coming.

“I’m a Forest fan and just like them I faded at the end. I probably spent too much time on it but I watch a lot of football and really enjoy it.”

Paul Springer, on 2,610 points, finished third for the second time in the competition and was planning to spend his $200 winnings on his children.

“I’ve already earmarked the money for the children,” Springer said.

“Obviously to win you have to know your football and have to employ a consistent strategy. I didn’t put in a lot of time this year, maybe a couple of hours before making the transfer and hoping for the best.”