OT
It is said that every top sportsman must suffer a setback in order to fight back and emphasise their calibre; it’s still early days, but back-toback major final appearances and a spell of scintillating displays have seen Lewis do exactly that this summer. After surrendering his near three-year unbeaten run at Alexandra Palace in December (amid a number of early exits in other TV majors) Lewis endured a miserable 2013 Premier League campaign which saw him lose his opening four matches, before producing a late rally to swerve relegation and finish eighth. No longer was an over-confident ‘show-pony’ on display, but a more reserved and thoughtful character, who knew that after an unsuccessful four-month stint among his fellow big guns, it was time to go back to the drawing board. And so followed an alteration to his tungsten armour - a new set of darts and a new approach -starting at the UK Open. “Fair play to my sponsors Target, they’ve been persevering with my darts now for the last 18 months and now I’m happy with what I’m throwing,” said Lewis as he mounted a run to the Quarter-Finals in Bolton. But at the subsequent European Championship - a new animal emerged. The rhythm was back, the clinically consistent scoring power was back, and momentum was gained with every win. And after