Adrian Lewis
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Adrian Lewis (born 21 January 1985 in Stoke-on-Trent) is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation(PDC). His made his television debut in 2004, aged 19 at the UK Open. He uses the nickname Jackpot for his matches.
Lewis is considered a protege of multi-world champion Phil Taylor having practiced together in their home town Stoke-on-Trent. Taylor and Lewis amicably went their separate ways after the 2007 World Championship, Taylor now practices with Andy Hamilton.
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[edit] Nickname
His nickname of "Jackpot" derives from the fact that whilst competing in the 2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic he won a £40,000 jackpot in a casino but was unable to collect his winnings because he was under-age by US gaming laws.
[edit] Darts career
Lewis reached a regional final for the UK Open in 2003, which helped him qualify to make his television debut at the 2004 UK Open in Bolton, where he narrowly lost his last 64 match to Dennis Harbour. His next tv 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.
He failed to qualify for the 2005 PDC World Championships but back at Bolton for the UK Open he produced one of the rare whitewashes in the tournament history, beating Colin Monk 11-0 before falling to Chris Mason in the last 16. His World Matchplay debut came in 2005 and reached the quarter-finals before losing to Colin Lloyd.
He didn't make his World Championship debut until 2006 and reached the quarter-finals, losing a dramatic match 5-3 to Peter Manley. Lewis had beaten former world champion Dennis Priestley and number four seed Roland Scholten and began to raise prospects of a possible final clash against Taylor before Manley ended his hopes in a controversial match. Lewis decided to leave the stage part-way through the match as he alleged Manley had been trying to upset him whilst he was throwing. [1]
Lewis, along with the 15 other PDC players in the top 16, competed against 16 American qualifiers in the World Series of Darts. This tournament took place in May 2006 and was broadcast on the American Sport's Network ESPN. Lewis' performance in this tournament has made others refer to him as a major threat in years to come. He beat Colin Lloyd, Denis Ovens and Dennis Priestley before falling in the final to his mentor Phil Taylor.
Lewis' form continued to rise as he progressed to the quarter-finals of the UK Open in 2006. He beat Wayne Mardle 11-10 in the last 16, although was beaten by John Magowan 11-8 in the next stage. Later in 2006 he also progressed to the last 16 of the World Matchplay before being knocked out by Andy Hamilton. He reached the same stage of the World Grand Prix in October before being knocked out by Dennis Priestley.
In the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship, Lewis reached the last 16 stage. After the World Championship Lewis was awarded the last place in the 2007 Premier League, the prestigious tournament for eight top PDC players.[2]. Having missed out on automatic qualification, tournament broadcasters Sky Television awarded him their wildcard, as Phil Taylor had threatened to withdraw if this were not the case.[citation needed] Lewis lost his debut Premier League match against Raymond van Barneveld 8-5, but went on to win his next two matches against Peter Manley and Colin Lloyd winning 8-4 and 8-5 respectively.
[edit] Ranking and earnings
These performances left Lewis sixth in the PDC Order of Merit - the PDC's world ranking system. He had earned £70,244 between January 4, 2005 and January 2, 2007
