For Lloyd, it is a first tournament triumph since June and the 20 ranking points will keep him ahead of Unicorn stablemate Phil Taylor in the race to be World No.1 for the Ladbrokes.com World Championships next month.
Taylor suffered a shock exit – beaten by Irishman Mick McGowan in the quarter-finals. McGowan is in terrific form at the moment – reaching the Players Championship Final in Scotland last weekend – but he was no match for Lloyd in the final.
‘Jaws’ was in the groove all day in Holland and took the final 3 sets to nil. It is a much needed boost in confidence for Lloyd, who’s suffered a nightmare run at major TV tournaments – losing in the 1st round of the last three big events.
“It has been a long time coming,” he said. “I feel that my problems away from darts have gone away now and I’m totally focused on playing. It was a professional performance and I got my reward.”
But what about the other Team Unicorn stars? Adrian Lewis was beaten 3-0 by Dutch sensation Michael Van Gerwen in the 2nd round……..Van Gerwen’s run was ended in the 4th round by Ronnie Baxter.
John Part was another 2nd Round casualty – edged out 3-2 by Vincent van der Voort. Bob Anderson lost to Baxter in round three, while Kevin Painter was beaten by Barrie Bates and Peter Manley fell to Raymond Van Barneveld at the same stage. In an all-Unicorn clash, James Wade accounted for Andy Hamilton 3-0.
Wade himself was beaten by Dennis Priestley and Wes Newton lost out to Terry Jenkins at the last 16 stage. Barney beat Mark Dudbridge, who just missed double 12 for a 9-darter but just like Taylor, Barneveld went out in the quarter-finals….beaten by Roland Scholten.
Results:
4th Round:
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Steve Hine
Losers £300 + 8 ranking points
Quarter-finals:
Colin Lloyd 3-1 Ronnie Baxter
Losers £600 + 10 ranking points
Semi-finals:
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Roland Scholten
Losers £1,250 + 12 ranking points
Final:
Colin Lloyd 3-0 Mick McGowan
Winner £5,000 + 20 ranking points
BY STUART PYKE
