Championship League Darts Group 8
Posted on October 21st, 2009
ADRIAN LEWIS ended two years of disappointment in Championship League Darts by winning Group Eight of the tournament on Wednesday.
Lewis competed in five groups last year without winning one, and had missed out on a place in the final in each of the seven previous groups this time around.
However, he backed up his first placed finish in the Group Eight table by coming through the play-offs to take the last remaining spot in Thursday’s Winners Group.
Lewis lost to Terry Jenkins and Kirk Shepherd in the league phase, winning his other five matches, before hitting a 170 checkout in overcoming Shepherd 6-1 in the semi-finals.
He then capitalised on missed doubles from van Gerwen to assume a 4-2 lead in the decider.
Double 16 gave van Gerwen a third leg, but a brilliant ten-darter from Lewis put him one leg away from the win at 5-3.
He was waiting on 32 when van Gerwen took the ninth on double ten, but punished two misses from his opponent to finally seal the 6-4 win on double top.
“I’m so relieved it’s untrue,” said Lewis, who has now won £16,700 in this year’s event and £31,950 including last year’s prize money. “After losing in three finals last year I thought it was going to happen again today and Michael kept coming back at me. “But I managed to get it back together in the end and hopefully I can do the same in the Winners Group now tomorrow.”
Van Gerwen picked up £2,900 in a successful debut in the tournament, shown only on the internet via a series of ten bookmakers’ websites worldwide. The 20-year-old Dutchman finished second in the league table and then defeated Barrie Bates 6-4 in the semis.
Bates enjoyed a fruitful day in the tournament, picking up £2,050 in his run to the play-offs, while Shepherd made a brilliant recovery to sneak into the last four. The 2008 World Championship finalist lost his opening three matches, but won his final four games to edge out Tony Eccles on leg difference. That meant Eccles narrowly missed out on the semi-finals for a second successive day, although he picked up £3,400 overall.
A 6-2 defeat for Wayne Jones in his final league game meant he also missed out on the play-offs on leg difference, but he ends the event on £6,100 from three days of competition.
Terry Jenkins suffered a collapse in his fifth day in the tournament, losing his last three matches – including a brace of whitewashes in 16 successive losing legs – to end the day second bottom, above Holland’s Roland Scholten.
Thursday sees the eight group winners return to Crondon Park GC in Essex, headed by reigning champion Phil Taylor and world number two James Wade. Mervyn King, Mark Walsh, Wayne Mardle, Colin Osborne, Jelle Klaasen and Lewis will join them for the big-money Winners Group, with prize money of £100 per leg on offer in the league phase and £200 per leg in the play-offs.
The overall winner will pick up an additional £10,000, with the runner-up taking home £5,000 and the semi-finalists £2,500 each.
The day will be doubly crucial for Walsh and Klaasen, who could win a place in next month’s PartyPoker.com Grand Slam of Darts by reaching the final.
GROUP EIGHT RESULTS
Board One Board Two
Match One Terry Jenkins 6-5 Adrian Lewis Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Barrie Bates
Match Two Tony Eccles 6-4 Roland Scholten Wayne Jones 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Match One Barrie Bates 6-5 Terry Jenkins Roland Scholten 1-6 Wayne Jones
Match Two Kirk Shepherd 3-6 Tony Eccles Adrian Lewis 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Match One Barrie Bates 6-2 Wayne Jones Terry Jenkins 1-6 Roland Scholten
Match Two Kirk Shepherd 3-6 Michael van Gerwen Adrian Lewis 6-5 Tony Eccles
Not before 2.30pm
Match One Wayne Jones 6-2 Terry Jenkins Barrie Bates 6-3 Roland Scholten
Match Two Adrian Lewis 4-6 Kirk Shepherd Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Tony Eccles
Match One Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Wayne Jones Tony Eccles 6-5 Terry Jenkins
Match Two Roland Scholten 5-6 Adrian Lewis Kirk Shepherd 6-3 Barrie Bates
Not before 4.45pm
Match One Tony Eccles 1-6 Barrie Bates Adrian Lewis 6-2 Wayne Jones
Match Two Roland Scholten 6-5 Michael van Gerwen Terry Jenkins 0-6 Kirk Shepherd
Match One Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Terry Jenkins Wayne Jones 2-6 Tony Eccles
Match Two Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Roland Scholten Barrie Bates 2-6 Adrian Lewis
7.15pm Semi-Final 1
Adrian Lewis 6-1 Kirk Shepherd Semi-Final 2
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Barrie Bates
8pm Final
Adrian Lewis 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
GROUP EIGHT FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
Pl W L Won Lost LWAT £Won Pts
Adrian Lewis 7 5 2 39 30 14 £1950 10
Michael van Gerwen 7 4 3 38 30 14 £1900 8
Barrie Bates 7 4 3 33 29 14 £1650 8
Kirk Shepherd 7 4 3 33 29 13 £1650 8
Tony Eccles 7 4 3 35 32 17 £1750 8
Wayne Jones 7 4 3 30 29 14 £1500 8
Terry Jenkins 7 2 5 24 36 7 £1200 4
Roland Scholten 7 1 6 24 41 10 £1200 2
GROUP EIGHT PRIZE MONEY
Prize Money League Play-Offs Total
Adrian Lewis £1950 £1200 £3150
Michael van Gerwen £1900 £1000 £2900
Barrie Bates £1650 £400 £2050
Kirk Shepherd £1650 £100 £1750
Tony Eccles £1750 £1750
Wayne Jones £1500 £1500
Terry Jenkins £1200 £1200
Roland Scholten £1200 £1200
WINNERS GROUP FIXTURES
Board One Board Two
Match One James Wade v Phil Taylor Jelle Klaasen v Adrian Lewis
Match Two Wayne Mardle v Colin Osborne Mervyn King v Mark Walsh
Match One Adrian Lewis v James Wade Colin Osborne v Mervyn King
Match Two Mark Walsh v Wayne Mardle Phil Taylor v Jelle Klaasen
Match One Adrian Lewis v Mervyn King James Wade v Colin Osborne
Match Two Mark Walsh v Jelle Klaasen Phil Taylor v Wayne Mardle
Not before 2.30pm
Match One Mervyn King v James Wade Adrian Lewis v Colin Osborne
Match Two Phil Taylor v Mark Walsh Jelle Klaasen v Wayne Mardle
Match One Jelle Klaasen v Mervyn King Wayne Mardle v James Wade
Match Two Colin Osborne v Phil Taylor Mark Walsh v Adrian Lewis
Not before 4.45pm
Match One Wayne Mardle v Adrian Lewis Phil Taylor v Mervyn King
Match Two Colin Osborne v Jelle Klaasen James Wade v Mark Walsh
Match One Jelle Klaasen v James Wade Mervyn King v Wayne Mardle
Match Two Mark Walsh v Colin Osborne Adrian Lewis v Phil Taylor
7.15pm Semi-Final 1 Semi-Final 2
8pm Final
Tags: Championship League Darts, Results, Review
Filed under Championship League Darts, PDC |
