Masterful Martin Makes It Three In a Row!

Ted Hankey secured the highest checkout prize of £1,000 with a magnificent 164 in his match with Ross Montgomery, but then went out to Stuart Kellett, who proved to be a huge crowd favourite over the weekend.

In his Semi-Final against the in-form Martin Phillips of Wales, who the week previously had been crowned 2010 WDF Europe Cup Singles Champion, Stuart was ahead 3-2 at the break, and then came out with a run of legs that ended with checkouts of 98, 97 and 146 as he appeared to be cruising at 5-2, just one set from victory.

But Martin has never been a player to lie down and accept defeat. He’s an experienced fighter on the oche and so it proved in this thriller!

He watched as Stuart won the 1st leg of the 8th set before taking the 2nd leg after a 174 from Stuart pressured his darts. He then went on to take the set to make it 5-3.  Martin won the 1st leg of the 9th set, but the second was an edgy affair with Stuart having first shot at double and then taking 9 darts before checking on d-4 to be just one leg from victory.

Martin was having none of it! He hit a 180 in the next and won with d-5 to make it 5-4.  He then took the next 2 legs with the help of another 180, and suddenly the game was all level at a dramatic 5-5 in sets. 

Game on!

The Welsh wizard then won the opening leg of the deciding 11th set, but Stuart came storming back with a much needed 180/140 combination to level 1-1 in legs to produce a bull-up.  Both hit 25’s before Stuart hit bull – eventually winning a wonderfully entertaining match with an uninviting double-9 for a 6-5 win to get to his first Masters final.

In the second Semi-Final as one Martin left the stage (Phillips) there were another  three Martin’s on stage: Adams, McCloskey and Fitzmaurice!

Martin McCloskey, the likeable Irishman won the 1st set, and the proud England captain hit his first 180 in the opening leg of the 2nd set, before checking out on a spectacular 125 with bull, 25, bull!  It brought the house down, but McCloskey hit straight back with the 2nd leg before Adams took the set.

Adams then won the 3rd and 4th sets, before McCloskey punished some poor darts to go into the break at 3-2.  Coming out of the break, Adams won the first 2 legs to make the set score 4-2. But McCloskey came storming back again to make it 4-3.  Both shared 180’s in the opening legs of the 8th set which was won by Adams and, with the aid of another 180 he also took the 9th set to win the match 6-3.

And so to the final.

Stuart Kellett got there with wins over Tony West 3-1, Ted Hankey 3-2 and Martin Phillips 6-5.  Martin Adams’ route saw him beat Jan Dekker of The Netherlands 3-2, Scott Waites 3-1 and Martin McCloskey 6-3.

Wolfie had that determined look in his eyes as he hit his first 180 in the opening leg and checked out on 80, before seeing Stuart win the second leg with another double-9. However, Adams took the set with a 101 checkout.  He then won the next leg with a 57 check and opened the 2nd leg with another 180, followed by 140 and 135 for a 12 darter to go 2-0 up in sets.

In the first  leg of the 3rd set Adams hit another 180 for a  14 dart leg, and yet another 180 helped him to take a 3-0 lead in sets.

In the 4th set Stuart won the opening leg (his first since the opening set) and in the next hit his first 180 of the final to put his first set on the board.  In the 5th set, Adams scored his 5th 180 of the final to go one leg up, but Stuart came back to win the next two legs to make the scoreline a more respectable 3-2.

Both hit 180s in the 6th set and they went into the break with Martin Adams 4-2 ahead.

After the break, Adams set out his intentions with his 7th 180 of the final to help him win the 7th set, and his 8th came in the 8th set, which he again won to go ahead 6-2.  In the 9th set Martin won the opening leg, but Stuart levelled and then took the set with a 70 checkout on Bullseye to bring the crowd to their feet.

Could this be another comeback?  They all sensed that drama always follows Martin Adams. Maybe this would be another nail-biter?

Wolfie took first blood with the opening leg of the 10th set and then Stuart levelled with a double-3 checkout to set up a dramatic closing leg in which Martin hit his 9th 180 of the final before checking out on a superb 121 for his history making third successive Winmau World Masters title.

The final score was 7-3 and the celebrations that followed confirmed the popularity of one of the most consistent players in world darts........and yet another howling success for Wolfie.

The newly crowned Winmau Women’s World Master is JULIE GORE of Wales, who triumphed over three  times Winmau Women’s Master Francis Hoenselaar of The Netherlands. The scoreline was a convincing 4-1 and represented Julie’s first ever Winmau title. In the Girls Final, England’s ZOE JONES made it an impressive two Girls Masters in a row with a convincing 4-0 victory over Sweden’s Sarah Rosen.

 Local boy REECE ROBINSON won his first Boys Masters title with a 4-1 victory against England’s Kurtis Atkins.

The BDO WINMAU WORLD MASTERS in association with John Smith’s and East Yorkshire Events was played for the first time at The City Hall from October 29th to 31st, 2010 and shown exclusively by BBC TV Sport.