ADRIAN Lewis continued his fine form as he won the first Coral UK Open Qualifier in Wigan on Friday.
Fresh off the back of his impressive win on the opening night of the Betway Premier League against reigning champion Raymond van Barneveld on Thursday, Lewis maintained his stunning form as he blitzed his way through the field before overcoming world number one Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Lewis’ day began in spectacular fashion as he averaged 121.86 in an emphatic 6-0 whitewash win against Ryan Harrington at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.
Another comfortable win followed in round two as he saw off Mick Todd 6-1 before he then edged a close encounter with Peter Wright 6-4 to win his board.
Ronny Huybrechts would be Lewis' next test, and the 30-year-old would again make light work of his opponent as he ran out a 6-1 victor.
Lewis’ biggest challenges would come in the quarter and semi-finals as he faced the uncomfortable duo of Justin Pipe and Brendan Dolan in successive rounds, winning 6-4 and 6-3 respectively to set up the final with van Gerwen, who had been in similarly impressive form on the day.
The Dutchman saw off Kevin McDine, Jan Dekker, Simon Whitlock, Brian Woods and Mensur Suljovic in his opening rounds to set up a last four clash with a rejuvenated Mark Webster, who was competing in his first individual PDC semi-final for three years.
And the Welshman would prove stiff opposition for the world number one as he took the game to a deciding leg before van Gerwen took out 130 in the last leg to book his place in the final against Lewis.
After the pair exchanged breaks in the opening two legs, Lewis found his form with the darts as he reeled off five straight legs, including two consecutive 12-darters, to seal an extremely impressive victory, along with the £10,000 winners’ cheque.
“I said that I was going to have a good 2015 and this is a statement of my intent,” said a delighted Lewis.
“I started off with a 120 average and continued my form throughout the day so I am very happy. I’ve been putting a lot of work in and I’m looking forward to the year ahead.
“I owed Michael one because he’s beaten me that many times over our last six or seven games and I did so I am a very happy man this evening.”
Coral UK Open Qualifier One
Friday February 6, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Premilinary Round
Kevin Bambrick 6-3 John Newland
Will Harwood 6-4 Ron Meulenkamp
John Bowles 6-5 Lee Whitworth
Jamie Robinson 6-2 Tony Oak
Mark Cox 6-5 Adrian Gray
Adam Hunt 6-5 Mark Walsh
Nathan Derry 6-1 Chris Aubrey
Steve Douglas 6-2 James Hubbard
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Steve West 6-4 Jim Walker
Use the interactive bracket below to follow the rest of today's results. Click here to view the bracket in full screen .
Prize Fund
Winner: £10,000
Runner-Up: £5,000
Semi-Finals £2,500
Quarter-Finals: £1,500
Last 16: £1,000
Last 32: £500
Last 64: £250