Report Championship League Darts - First Day

GROUP ONE JOY FOR NEWTON AS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE DARTS KICKS OFF IN STYLE
Wes Newton won Group One of Championship League Darts as he crowned a fine day of darts with a 6-3 victory over World Champion Adrian Lewis in the final at Crondon Park GC in Essex.
The first day of action in the 200,000 pound internet-streamed event saw the world's top eight players battling it out for a place in November's Winners Group.
World number one Phil Taylor topped the league table following the round-robin stage, which saw the players meet once over the best of 11 legs, but lost out in the semi-finals to Lewis.
Newton, who reached the PartyPoker.net European Championship final on Sunday, inflicted one of only two defeats on Taylor during the league stage with a brilliant performance in one of four victories.
He then came from 5-3 down to win a thrilling semi-final with Terry Jenkins in a deciding leg before seeing off Lewis 6-3 in the final to win the group. Newton opened the final with two 180s but actually lost the opening leg before winning the next three before the World Champion hit a 180 in a 12-darter to reply. A 74 finish edged Newton 4-2 up, and although Lewis cut the gap with a 14-darter, the Fleetwood ace's heavy scoring helped him to win the next two, as double six and double four secured the win.

"I'm chuffed to bits to be the Group One winner," said Newton, who won £2,900 o the day. "It doesn't get any tougher than this with the top eight players in the world, so I'm really happy to keep my form going at the minute. "It's always good to beat Phil Taylor, that's only the second time I've done it and I did it in good style. It gives me the confidence to keep going, I'm playing really well, I'm happy with my game, and the next tournament can't come quickly enough for me. "The World Grand Prix's a couple of weeks away and my confidence is so high at the minute, so I'll go home, have a bit of a rest and keep preparing while the rest of these players are battling it out!"

Lewis had edged out Gary Anderson on leg difference to finish fourth in the league table as one of four players tied on eight points, and was in brilliant form to complete a 'double' over Taylor on the day, having won their opening group game 6-5 before taking the semi-final 6-2.
Taylor had finished at the top of the league table after winning five of his seven league matches, with one win over James Wade seeing the world number one average 117.81 to the left-hander's 111.95.
Taylor, last's year's Championship League Darts winner, will now return to compete in Group Two alongside his fellow semi-final loser Jenkins, Scottish ace Anderson and Simon Whitlock.
Anderson missed out on a semi-final place on leg difference after winning four of his seven league games, while Whitlock's 6-5 loss to Taylor in the final round of matches saw him finish sixth. World Championship finalist Andy Hamilton - who finished below Whitlock on leg difference - and 2009 champion James Wade were eliminated from the event, with the world number three winning just one of his games during the day.
World number nine Mark Webster, debutant Justin Pipe and Players Championship Finals winner Kevin Painter will enter the fray on Wednesday in Group Two, with play commencing at 10.30am.







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