Adrian Lewis

Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985) is an English professional darts player who plays in the PDC.

Lewis was born in Stoke-on-Trent and had shown his potential at the age of 18 by winning the 2003 British Teenage Open.

His professional career began in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) events but he only competed in one major tournament, the 2003 Winmau World Masters, losing in the last 128.

Lewis then joined the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) without ever qualifying for the BDO World Championship.

He made his television debut in 2004, aged 19 at the UK Open.

In addition to his two world Championships.

He is also a four-time winner of the PDC World Cup of Darts, partnering Phil Taylor.

Lewis reached a semi-final of the regional qualifiers for the UK Open in 2004, which provided his opportunity for a television debut at the 2004 UK Open in Bolton, where he narrowly lost 7–8 to Dennis Harbour in the last 64.

His next television appearance came against his mentor Phil Taylor at the 2004 Las Vegas Desert Classic where he went out 0–2 in the first round.

He then went on to win his first match on television at the 2004 World Grand Prix beating former world champion Richie Burnett, before losing to Gary Welding.

His first professional ranking title came in September 2004, when he won the Chris de Roo Open after defeating Colin Lloyd in the final.

He is nicknamed "Jackpot", as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas in 2005, but he was unable to collect the money as he was 20 years old, below the US legal gambling age of 21.

He failed to qualify for the 2005 World Championship, but back at Bolton for the 2005 UK Open he produced one of the rare whitewashes in the tournament's history, beating Colin Monk 11–0 before falling 11–8 to Chris Mason in the last 16.

In late 2005, Lewis began to produce some promising results including his first major event quarter-final which came in the World Matchplay, where he lost to Colin Lloyd.

This result saw him break in the top 32 in the world for the first time.

He then became the first player to win both PDC Pro Tour events during a weekend by taking the PDPA Players Championship and the UK Open Scottish Regional titles.

Lewis made his PDC World Championship debut in 2006, reaching the quarter-finals by defeating Dave Honey, Dennis Priestley and Roland Scholten.

He was involved in, what has become, an infamous match against Peter Manley.

When 2–1 down Lewis successfully hit a blind 180, where he turned to face Manley as the last dart was in the air.

Manley won the set and then appeared to say something while Lewis was throwing, which caused him to leave the stage.

Lewis did return, but went on to lose the match 5–3.

His biggest breakthrough came in May 2006 when he joined the 15 other PDC players in the top-16 competing against 16 American qualifiers in the World Series of Darts which was broadcast on ESPN.

Lewis' performance in this tournament made others refer to him as a major threat in years to come.

He beat Lloyd 6–5, Denis Ovens 9–6 and Priestley 11–1 before falling in the final 13–5 to Taylor.

His ranking continued to rise by reaching the latter stages of the non-televised PDC Pro Tour events during 2006 (including winning a Scottish Players Championship) as well as the last 16 of the UK Open, having beaten Wayne Mardle 11–10 in the last 32, before losing to John MaGowan 11–6.

During the early part of his career until 2007, Lewis was a protégé of 16-time world champion Phil Taylor, with whom he practised in their home city of Stoke-on-Trent.

Between 2007 and 2010, Lewis produced inconsistent form and was often unable to follow up on big wins such as at the 2007 World Matchplay in Blackpool where he beat the incumbent world champion Raymond van Barneveld 16–14 in the quarter-finals before losing heavily 17–7 in the semi-finals to James Wade.

He lost to Andy Jenkins in the last 16 of the 2007 World Championship, but was selected by Sky Sports as a wildcard for the 2007 Premier League.

The event is prestigious as it involves the top six PDC players and two wildcards.

Lewis finished seventh in the league, winning five of his fourteen matches.

Lewis also advanced to the semi-finals of the International Darts League, but was thrashed 9–1 by Gary Anderson.

He reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the second time in 2008, but was defeated 5–2 by Kevin Painter.

He fared much better in the Premier League this year by finishing fourth in the table to advance to the play-offs where Taylor comfortably beat him 11–1.

At the 2008 European Darts Championship, Lewis played his first-round match against Hannes Schnier with three plasters on his non-throwing hand – having attempted to catch a falling glass backstage but shattered in his hand.

After winning the match 5–2, Lewis was taken to hospital for checks on two deep cuts.

Lewis went on to beat Ovens 9–5 before producing at the time arguably the best performance of his career with a 9–2 victory over van Barneveld in the quarter-finals.

An 11–7 victory over Manley set up a final with Taylor.

Lewis lost 11–5 but his performance in the tournament guaranteed him a place in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts.

Lewis was defeated in the second round of the 2009 World Championship, 3–4 by Paul Nicholson but did manage to end his title drought in September.

He is a two-time PDC World Darts Champion, winning in 2011 and 2012, also winning the 2013 European Championship and the 2014 UK Open.