It’s taken a year and 14 attempts but Adrian Lewis has finally won a place at Final’s Day at Championship League Darts! He is in the Winner’s Group on Thursday after a dramatic 6-4 victory in the final over Michael van Gerwen. Lewis was indebted to the Dutchman, who missed 20 darts at doubles and he admitted he nearly threw it away.
“I thought I was going to bottle it,” he said. “I was extremely tired by the end of the semi-finals, so it was just a case of finding one performance from somewhere and thankfully, I managed it.”
His winnings from this year’s event now stand at £16,700 and from the two years of CL Darts he has now earned £31,950 – a remarkable achievement.
In the final, he could easily have been 0-4 down as Van Gerwen kept missing doubles….instead he found himself 4-2 in front. Lewis found a burst of three 180s in consecutive legs and then produced a magnificent 10 dart leg to move 5-3 up.
The Dutchman though pegged one leg back and he looked like forcing a decider but missed two more darts at D20 and Lewis stepped in to end the CL Darts hoodoo.
In the semi-finals, Lewis was just too strong for Shepherd, as he raced to a 6-1 victory….Shepherd hit four 180s but couldn’t match Lewis’ finishing.
After Shepherd had missed six darts to make it two legs apiece, Lewis won five consecutive legs, including a brilliant 170 finish to book his place in the final. Shepherd has won £4,300 in prize money from his two days at CL Darts.
Welshman Barrie Bates came close to reaching the final on his one and only day at Crondon Park but bowed out to Van Gerwen in the semi’s.
Bates was impressive in the group stages, winning four matches and qualifying in third spot but despite a 156 finish, Van Gerwen’s heavier scoring proved crucial, as the Dutchman won 6-4.
It turned into a nightmare final day at Crondon Park for Terry Jenkins, with the Unicorn ace crashing out of the tournament in spectacular fashion.
It was Jenkins’ fifth day in Essex but it was his worst. At one stage he looked in good shape for a semi-final spot but in his 5th match against Tony Eccles, ‘The Bull’ was 5-2 up and coasting….however, that’s when it all went wrong.
He ended up losing 6-5 and then self destructed, because he lost his final two matches 6-0 against Shepherd and Van Gerwen….Jenkins losing 16 consecutive legs to bow out of the event.
His consolation though, will be a cheque for £9,400 for his efforts.
Shepherd became the first man in the history of the tournament to qualify for the semi-finals after losing his first three matches! It was a fabulous achievement….he beat Lewis, Bates, Jenkins and Scholten to squeeze into the play-offs – edging out Tony Eccles by just one leg.
It was the second successive day that Eccles had finished on eight points and missed out on the semi-finals by just one leg.
Day Eight Results:
Final:
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Semi-Finals:
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Group Eight results:
Terry Jenkins 6-5 Adrian Lewis
So, it’s all sorted….the eight players back at Crondon Park on Thursday for what should be a fantastic finale to Championship League Darts 2009.
They are: James Wade, Phil Taylor, Mervyn King, Mark Walsh, Wayne Mardle, Colin Osborne, Jelle Klaasen and Adrian Lewis.
By STUART PYKE at CL Darts
