Darts: England's Adrian Lewis wins gripping finale

Sports Writer·NZ Herald·

29 Aug, 2015 10:37 PM2 mins to read

Adrian Lewis won the title and the $70,000 winner's cheque. Photo / Nick Reed

The crowd was great, and the darts even better.

The final night of the Darts Masters tournament, featuring the best players in the world, had a gripping finale at the Trusts Arena.

Holland's Raymond van Barneveld missed five match winning darts leaving England's Adrian Lewis with the title and $70,000 winner's cheque.

It was as good as darts gets. Lewis looked as though he had blown a 10 - 8 lead before sneaking home with a double one for the 11-10 victory.

Lewis rubbed his head in despair on a final leg involving thrills and spills from the players as the nerves took over and the crowd hit fever pitch.

"It was a fantastic match - I can't be disappointed with a crowd like this," said loser van Barneveld.

A total of 15,000 spectators attended the three nights of action. The singing, chanting crowd came dressed as everything from bananas to monks, or wore outfits supporting their favourite players.

They helped make the Professional Darts Corporation's first foray to New Zealand a tremendous success, and the tournament has a great chance of becoming a permanent fixture.

PDC chief executive Matthew Porter said: "There's no reason why we won't be back next year."

Van Barneveld was down 2 - 3 in the semifinal against James Wade then won seven straight legs, piling on six maximum 180s in the eventual 10 - 6 victory.

The second semifinal was a brilliant contest, with Phil Taylor threatening to blitz his mate and fellow Englishman Lewis. But the burly Lewis held on and won a scrappy deciding leg - the only time he led - to a wild reception.

It showed the pressure could affect even the greatest player of all time, with Taylor showing a slight tremor in the final leg when he missed four match-winning chances.

The result ended the 55-year-old's run of World Series wins in Japan, Perth and last week in Sydney where he beat Lewis in the final. Auckland was the final leg of the World Series, with the final in Scotland in late November.