Adrian Lewis could be coming down with the flu, but the Unicorn ace produced a brilliant display of finishing to win a high-quality match at the Alexandra Palace.
Lewis will be heading straight for his sickbed after seeing off Tony Eccles by three sets to nil….but that only tells half the story.
“I don’t feel great,” he said. “I have just had a family holiday in Lanzarote and coming back to the cold of the UK obviously hasn’t done me any good. But I am very pleased to win, because Tony played really well….in the end, it came down to finishing.”
He can say that again!
It was some match – spread over 15 great legs of darts.
In the end, the first set proved to be absolutely pivotal.
After Eccles had just missed D14 for a 121 to break the throw, Lewis nailed a brilliant 156! Eccles, would you believe hit 180s in all five legs the opening set and he looked like winning it, before Lewis came up trumps again with a fantastic 101 finish.
Eccles was hitting maximums for fun but he missed 11 darts at doubles in that first set.
In the second set, Lewis broke brilliantly with a 124 check-out on the bull and then took the set with D16….Eccles couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
The third set was equally as dramatic. Eccles took his 180 tally to eight, as it again went to a deciding leg. The man from Hartlepool also nailed a 170 finish to stay alive!
But Lewis kept his cool and won the match on ‘tops’ with an average of 95, and now he can rest and get himself straight for a 2nd Round clash with either Mark Dudbridge or Alex Roy.
“I desperately want to win this World Championship. I know I am not 100 per cent at the moment, but I will get better,” Lewis added.
Well, in Friday’s other matches, Dutchman Co Stompe suffered a shock defeat to Peter Wright….Stompe, who came to the tournament having just won the World Cup with Raymond van Barneveld, just couldn’t get going.
After winning the opening two legs, he started missing doubles and Wright won six consecutive legs to establish a two set advantage.
Stompe missed 26 darts at doubles and Wright won it with a 102 finish to set up a 2nd Round showdown with Team Unicorn star Paul Nicholson.
Colin Lloyd used his get-out-of-jail free card to beat German Andree Welge in a dramatic tie-break!
Lloyd was coasting when he was two sets in front, but he lost concentration and he lost his temper too! Welge proceeded to win eight consecutive legs to take him to the verge of victory and Lloyd faces a hefty fine after punching the dart board in frustration.
He somehow managed to recompose himself and after Welge had missed three darts to win the match, Lloyd took out 116 to set up a 2nd Round clash against Mayk Hylton.
Results:
Preliminary Round (best of 7 legs):
Roland Scholten 4-2 Veijo Viinikka (Finland)
1st Round (best of 5 sets):
Co Stompe 1-3 Peter Wright
Colin Lloyd 3-2 Andree Welge
Adrian Lewis 3-0 Tony Eccles
Ronnie Baxter 3-0 Ronnie Baxter
Saturday Schedule – Preliminary Round:
Matt Padgett v Morihiro Hashimoto (Japan)
1st Round:
Andy Hamilton v Dennis Smith
Mark Dudbridge v Alex Roy
Simon Whitlock v Steve Evans
Gary Anderson v Padgett/Hashimoto
By STUART PYKE at the Alexandra Palace
Photo courtesy Lawrence Lustig / PDC