Colin Lloyd’s dream of winning the International Darts League title was shattered by Raymond Van Barneveld on Sunday night in Holland. Unicorn’s World No.1 was beaten 13 sets to 5 in the final in Nijmegen…..Lloyd paying the price for far too many missed doubles. His consolation is a cheque for 15,000 euros, while Barneveld pockets 30,000 euros after winning the title for a 3rd time in four years. In the end, the finishing was crucial…..Barney was clinical….Lloyd didn’t take his chances. The Dutch ace won the opening five sets 2-1….despite Lloyd checking out 125 and 107. ‘Jaws’ briefly came back to take the next three sets – including an 11-dart leg but he couldn’t sustain it. Barneveld averaged nearly 100 and his 14 180s took his tally of maximums for the week to 44 – a record for the tournament. Lloyd certainly didn’t throw in the towel. He clawed it back to 4-6 and won the opening leg of what turned out to be a pivotal 11th set. Barney though, conjured up two 13-dart legs to make it 7 sets to 4 and he didn’t look back. He showed the form that has lit up the PDC in the two months since he made the giant leap….he was soon 12-4 in front, before a brilliant 134 from Lloyd reduced the deficit. That only served to inspire Barneveld, because he found a superb 151 kill and a two dart 78 check-out wrapped up the title. But Lloyd can be proud of his achievements during the week in Holland. He displayed his talents to a new audience and together with Unicorn’s Phil Taylor – made a big impression on another world stage. He averaged over 95 in the final and hit 10 maximums. “Obviously I am disappointed,” he admitted. “I missed far too many shots at doubles and you can’t do that against Barney. I played some good darts during the week though and I know I am on the right track.” Lloyd and the rest of Team Unicorn now have their sights set on the USA. Next weekend sees the World Series of Darts in Connecticut. Lloyd, Taylor, Peter Manley, Kevin Painter, John Part and Adrian Lewis will all be involved…..as will Unicorn’s new boy American Ray Carver. There will be regular updates from the US on the World Series of Darts here on the Unicorn website. BY STUART PYKE
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