The strengths and weaknesses of Adrian Lewis impacting his game at the PDC Championship
Darts was never as interesting or enthralling as it has become in recent months. Adrian Lewis, nicknamed Jackpot, is all geared up and set to retain his crown of becoming the first darts’ player after Phil Taylor to emerge as the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) World Champion.
The 26-year-old Adrian Lewis began his journey to glory in the sport last year after defeating Gary Anderson in a nine-dart finish.
With the stage ready to set at Alexandra Palace in a couple of weeks, the million dollar question remains, will Lewis be able to live up to the expectations of darts’ fans and his nickname really bring luck to his career?
In order to properly assess this question, there are a couple of aspects that require our consideration.
Among all others, it is important to have a view of the multitude phases Lewis’s career has gone through so that proper analysis, regarding his strengths and weaknesses can be obtained.
Coming towards the strengths first, his greatest strength lies in his ability and reputation to scourge upsets. Major upsets.
At a certain point in the game, he might be too silent to be considered a threat. The very next moment, he might rip and tear his opponent apart.
There are a couple of incidents that serve as a precedent, if we take a proper look at his career.
Even after failing to qualify for the PDC, he was able to register his name in the UK Open, through one of the rarest whitewashes in the history of the tournament against Colin Monk, beating him 11-0.
After getting his first breakthrough in 2005, he was able to produce some extremely promising results by marking his position in the quarter finals of the World Matchplay. At that time, he emerged as something completely out of the blue.
Towards the end of the year, Lewis was able to secure a position equivalent to Phil Taylor by winning Scottish Regional titles and the PDC Pro Tour.
This was however, not what Lewis wanted.For him, his breakthrough was still quite far away.
It arrived the very next year, when in 2006, he was able to register his name among the top 16 of the World Series of Darts.
He was considered an easy opponent before the match and a serious threat once the game ended.
After defeating prominent players like Denis Ovens, Dennis Priestley and Colin Lloyd and creating a new upset with every victory, his jackpot refused to unlock against Phil Taylor in the grand finale of the Championship.
On the flip side, one of his weaknesses, which may distance him from maintaining his current champion status, is Lewis’s exceptionally vulnerable nature of getting involved in controversies.
Since a couple of years, he has been involved in various contentious issues, either before, or during, and even after the match.
In 2009, at the World Grand Prix, his recent contender, Gary Anderson, accused him of going into exclusion zone while he was making his move.
In addition to this, his ability of aiming blind shots during a match, especially when hitting 180, has also been the talk of the town.
It is basically his unintentional or intentional involvement in such issues that may hinder his move towards his objective of lifting the trophy, while simultaneously fulfilling the ultimate dream of every darts player, defeating Phil Taylor.
However, it is yet again important to note that with ‘the power’ and ‘the jackpot’, one on one, Lewis would need the power to cash in his jackpot, whereas Taylor would use all the power he has to strike his jackpot.
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