Adrian Lewis was an impressive winner of the second German Darts Classic event in Gladbeck.
Building on his Premier League fightback to grab a draw with James Wade in Exeter, the Unicorn ace came from behind to beat Mark Walsh in the final.
A couple of 12 dart legs and a 121 finish helped Lewis to overcome Irishman Brendan Dolan in the semi-finals, after he edged a last leg thriller against Robert Thornton in the Quarter-Finals.
And he had to be at his best to beat Walsh 6-4 to claim the £6,000 winner’s cheque.
Lewis was 2-0 in front but then paid for missed chances, as Walsh established a 4-3 lead. Lewis then upped the ante winning three consecutive legs to claim victory.
A 14 darter levelled, D4 broke the throw and a fabulous double top, double top 80 check out won it for Lewis.
James Wade looked so good for so long yet again but one poor performance and that was that.
After early wins against Unicorn stablemates Michael Rosenauer (6-2) and Peter Manley (6-3), he then disposed of Co Stompe 6-4 in the last 16, before he came unstuck and was blitzed 6-0 by Gary Anderson in the quarter-finals.
Kirk Shepherd enjoyed his best run of the year in this 6th Players Championship tournament of 2010, as he reached the last 16, where he eventually lost 6-1 to Dolan.
Incredibly, no fewer than EIGHT Unicorn players fell at the last 32 stage…..here is the list of losers: Paul Nicholson 4-6 Andy Smith, Barrie Bates 5-6 Steve Brown, John Part 5-6 Steve Beaton, Peter Manley 3-6 James Wade, Kevin Painter 2-6 Mervyn King, Colin Osborne 5-6 Mark Webster, Joe Cullen 4-6 Alan Tabern and Wes Newton 3-6 Steve Hine.
In the 1st Round, there were six Team Unicorn losers.
Mick McGowan lost 6-2 to Lewis, Andy Hamilton was a surprise 6-2 loser to Rocco Maes, Arron Monk lost 6-3 to Mark Hylton, Jamie Caven was well beaten 6-1 by Bates and Unicorn’s two women stars were also beaten.
Anastasia Dobromyslova was unlucky to lose a last leg decider to Vladimir Andersen, while Irina Armstrong in her second PDC tournament, went down6-1 to Nigel Heydon.
For the second successive day, Andy Krockel lost in the preliminary round. He was a 6-4 loser to Guiseppe Quintero.
Results - 4th Round:
Mark Walsh 6-0 Andy Smith
Steve Brown 6-4 Steve Beaton
James Wade 6-4 Co Stompe
Gary Anderson 6-0 Mervyn King
Mark Webster 6-5 Alan Tabern
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Steve Hine
Robert Thornton 6-1 Andree Welge
Losers - £500
Quarter-Finals:
Adrian Lewis 6-5 Robert Thornton
Brendan Dolan 6-3 Mark Webster
Gary Anderson 6-0 James Wade
Mark Walsh 6-4 Steve Brown
Losers - £1,000
Semi-Finals:
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Mark Walsh 6-3 Gary Anderson
Losers - £1,500
Final:
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Mark Walsh
Winner - £6,000
Runner-up - £3,000
By STUART PYKE (Twitter @stuartpykesport)
Photo courtesy Chris Sargeant