Darts: 'Self-belief' fires Lewis to second world title

Adrian Lewis celebrates at Alexandra Palace (GETTY IMAGES)

Adrian Lewis retained his PDC World Darts Championships title with victory at Alexandra Palace last night. The 26-year-old saw off fellow Stoke thrower Andy Hamilton 7-3 to land the £200,000 first prize and trophy.

Lewis showed few signs of tiredness, despite a late finish to his semi-final against James Wade on Sunday night, to see off his tenacious 44-year-old opponent. Lewis said: "It's not quite sunk in yet. I take everything on the chin and have a busy year ahead. This is (title) number two and I'll have a lot more.

"The fightback against James Wade last night won me the tournament. I believed in myself." Asked how many times he could win the world title, he said: "At least 10." "But Andy hit a lot of good shots – I want to see him in the Premier League because he deserves a place."

Hamilton, who received £100,000 as runner-up, said: "It's been a great week for me. I wanted to win the final so badly but I'm happy to be here. Keep watching me. Next year I'll be back again and hopefully I'll be winning it then."

Lewis took the first set despite having three darts bounce out in the first three legs. Hamilton fought back in the second set but then Lewis gradually established control. He was dominant in the eighth set, hitting double 11 – the same double which won him the title last year – to win the fourth leg and restore his two-set advantage at 5-3.

In the ninth set, Lewis produced a 118 checkout to move to within one of the trophy. Hamilton took the first two legs of the 10th set but Lewis won the third and took the next against the darts to move to the brink of victory. Both players started the fifth leg with 180s and after each had missed doubles, Lewis nailed double top to wrap up the title.