Adrian Lewis


Adrian Lewis is an English professional darts player who formerly competed in Professional Darts Corporation events. Nicknamed "Jackpot", he is a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2011 and 2012, and has won two other major televised PDC titles, the European Championship in 2013 and the UK Open in 2014. He is a four-time winner of the PDC World Cup of Darts, having partnered with Phil Taylor as part of the England team.
Lewis has won a total of 26 PDC titles in his career. After withdrawing from multiple PDC events, he announced in April 2023 that he was taking a break from competitive darts, due in part to health issues affecting his wife and daughter.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Lewis has been described as one of the most naturally talented darts players of all time.

Career

Early career

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 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 without ever qualifying for the BDO World Championship.
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 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 2005, Lewis took on the nickname "Jackpot" as he won a jackpot gambling in Las Vegas that year, but he was unable to collect the money as he was 20 years old, below the US legal gambling age of 21.

Major breakthrough

In late 2005, Lewis began to produce some promising results, including reaching his first major event quarter-final in the 2005 World Matchplay, where he lost to Colin Lloyd. This result saw him break into 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. In the quarter-final Lewis was involved in a now infamous match against Peter Manley. When 2–1 down, Lewis successfully hit a blind 180, turning 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 Lewis 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 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.

2007–2010

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. 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 which 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 won his first PDC Pro Tour event in three years at the Austrian Players Championship, where he beat Carlos Rodriguez 6–4 in the final, which included a nine dart finish. He dedicated his victory to his one-month-old daughter. He added another Pro Tour title the following month at the Irish Open Players Championship beating Andy Hamilton in the final by 6 legs to 4.
His form on television also improved during 2009 reaching the quarter-finals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix. During 2010 he also made the last eight of the World Championship, Players Championships and UK Open before reaching his first televised final on Sky Television in the 2010 World Grand Prix where he beat Phil Taylor for the first time on television in the semi-finals but lost to James Wade in the final. There were further title successes in 2010, when he won Players Championships in Crawley and Germany to bring his overall Pro Tour title tally to seven.

2011 season

World Championship win

Lewis reached the final of the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship courtesy of victories over Tony Eccles, Mark Dudbridge, Robert Thornton, Vincent van der Voort and Mark Webster en route to the final, where he played Gary Anderson. The match-up ensured that, for the first time, the winner of the PDC World Championship would not have previously succeeded in the rival BDO World Championship. Lewis himself became the only player to have reached the PDC final without playing full-time on the BDO circuit.
During the first set of the match, Lewis became the first player to throw a nine-dart finish in a World Championship final. Lewis went on to win the match 7–5 and with it the championship, guaranteeing him a place in the 2011 Premier League. He had also risen to his highest ranking of No. 2. In addition, at 25 years old Lewis became the fifth youngest player to win a World Championship, behind Jelle Klaasen, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, and Mark Webster, as well as the youngest ever PDC World Champion.

Rest of 2011

In the 2011 Players Championship Finals Lewis lost 6–4 to Steve Beaton in the first round.
He got off to a winning start in the 2011 premier league of darts by beating the 2010 champion Phil Taylor 8–2, only to lose to Taylor 8–3 in their second meeting. Week 4 saw him get his first heavy defeat of the 2011 campaign, losing 8–2 to Mark Webster. He went on to defeat Gary Anderson in Anderson's home country of Scotland after both players were distracted by the crowd. Lewis was being booed and coins were thrown at him but he went on to win the match 8–3 and both players stated their disappointment with the crowd. During his walk on he had beer thrown over him. Lewis proceeded to make it to the final of the 2011 Premier League but lost 10–4 to Gary Anderson after beating Phil Taylor 8–3 in the semi-final in the same night.
Lewis was eliminated in the third round of the 2011 U.K. Open by Terry Jenkins, who took a 9–7 match. He lost 17–10 in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Matchplay to James Wade.
He hit another perfect 9 dart leg on 31 July 2011 at the European Darts Championships against Raymond van Barneveld during their semi- final match which he won 11–10. He played Phil Taylor in the final and lost 8–11.
In the 2011 World Grand Prix, he played John Part in his first round match. He lost 2 sets to 1 after leading 1–0 in sets and 2–0 in legs.
He reached the final of the first players championship in Derby and was defeated 6–2 by Jamie Caven. In the Crawley Players Championship he was defeated in the final by Paul Nicholson 6–4 in a hard fought match, he had defeated Ronnie Baxter 6–5 in the semi-final.
Lewis was now under the management of former World Champion Keith Deller and under his guidance he has appeared in several major finals, including his World Championship win.

2012 season

Defending his title

Lewis became the third player, after Eric Bristow and Raymond van Barneveld, to successfully defend their first World Championship title in the 2012 PDC World Championship, by beating Andy Hamilton 7–3 in the Final.
He almost exited the tournament on multiple occasions, beginning with his first round match against Nigel Heydon. He trailed 0–2 and was stung by a wasp during a break on his non-throwing hand, but nevertheless managed to claw his way back to 2–2. Heydon led 2–1 in the deciding set, but never had a dart for the match as Lewis won four of the last five legs to avoid an early exit. More comfortable victories ensued over Robert Thornton and Wayne Jones, with Lewis seemingly heading for the semi-finals as he led Terry Jenkins 3–0 in the last 8, having only lost 2 legs. However, his opponent stormed back to level the match, before Lewis rediscovered his form to win the last two sets and clinch a 5–3 win. He said after the match that he had "lost his way" during Jenkins' fightback, but was delighted to be in the semi-finals.
His semi-final match with James Wade was hailed as one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Lewis trailed both 2–0 and 5–1, only to win the next 5 sets, including 10 straight legs, to incredibly win 6–5 and finished with a 161 checkout. After the semi-final Lewis stated: "That was the best win of my career, definitely".
The match eventually finished at 12:50am. However, Lewis managed to never trail against Hamilton and was a double 12 away from hitting a nine-darter in the final for the second successive year. Lewis clinched victory with his third attempt at the match winning double and said afterwards he believed he could win 10 World Championship titles.
The tournament victory took Lewis' career prize money above the £1 million mark, and confirmed his number two status in the PDC Order of Merit. His semi-final comeback was named PDC Televised Performance of the Year at the PDC annual awards ceremony on 3 January.