Final
Adrian Lewis opened the final with a 180, but realistically
that was as good as it got for the former double World
Champion. Phil Taylor averaged over 110 in the
first session to lead 4-1 at the break, and with a
rapidly fading Lewis, who was showing signs
that his heavy cold was taking its toll, the
sixteen-time World Champion reeled off
six straight legs to claim a 10-1 victory
with a 108.50 average.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to
win this title and it’s special to be
the first Coral Masters winner,” said
Taylor. “I’m really proud of myself
and I’ll give myself a little pat on
the back because it wasn’t easy.”
“I expected more from James in the
semi-final and I was disappointed,
and obviously Adrian hasn’t been
feeling great and the semi-final with
Raymond took a lot out of him, so I knew
that I had to put him under pressure from
the start.”
“I’m very proud of him because he did
brilliantly to get into the final, but I knew it
would take a lot out of him. I played well in the
final, and when he missed a couple of doubles I took
advantage of him.”
“I’m loving every minute of it and I want to win everything - my
time is coming to an end in a few year’s time, and I want to
make the most of it while I’m here. I’m going to keep trying hard
and pushing myself.”
Lewis, who took home the runners-up prize of £20,000 was
upbeat about his weekends work:
“Phil was fantastic,” he said. “I had a couple of chances early on
but Phil punished me, and if you don’t take your chances you’ll be
out of the game, because you can’t give him chances.”
“Phil knew how I felt and he’ll have targeted me tonight. I had no
energy in the final - it was a fantastic game against Ray and the 116 to
win the match was massive for me.”
“I nearly pulled out of the tournament, and because I knew Kim
Huybrechts was coming here in great form I’d have been happy to reach
the second round, so to get to the final is a massive achievement.”
“It means a lot to me because I don’t know where the form came from
to go up there on stage and do that. I’m really proud, and though I
lost 10-1 in the final I’m not too disappointed because I know I played
well.”
Photo: PDC/Lawrence Lustig
“I’m loving every
minute of it and
I want to win
everything - my
time is coming to
an end in a few
year’s time, and I
want to make the
most of it while I’m
here. I’m going
to keep trying
hard and pushing
myself”
Phil Taylor