Taylor and Lewis claim World Cup crown (From Crewe Guardian)

Taylor and Lewis claim World Cup crown

3:58pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in More sport

PHIL Taylor and Adrian Lewis were crowned World Cup champions after defeating Australia's Simon Whitlock and Paul Nicholson in a sudden-death leg in the final at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg.

Taylor had been a second-round loser alongside James Wade in the inaugural World Cup of Darts in 2010, but made amends by sweeping past Australia alongside world champion Lewis to claim the £40,000 first prize.

"I'm over the moon and it means a massive amount to me," said Taylor.

"It was a great team effort from us both.

"Simon and Paul both showed a lot of bottle to come back from 3-0 down and still believe they could win the final.

"I thought we'd blown it when they won the doubles and it went to that last leg.

"As a player I'm a bit disappointed that we missed doubles in the final leg but it made a great final for the fans because there was drama and tension."

The Australians had enjoyed a superb tournament in Germany, defeating Ireland, Belgium and reigning champions Netherlands, but lost the first three singles games in the final.

Taylor defeated Nicholson 7-4 to take the opener before Lewis edged out Whitlock 7-5 to put England 2-0 up.

Taylor then averaged almost 106 in a brilliant 7-6 win over Whitlock – which saw him come from 3-0 down to take victory despite missing 19 darts at a double – but Nicholson edged out Lewis 7-4 to keep Australian hopes alive.

They then squared the final by winning the Doubles game 7-4, with Whitlock sealing victory in style with a 124 checkout on the bull to send the match into a deciding leg.

Nerves got to both teams as Nicholson, Taylor and Whitlock all missed darts for victory before Lewis stepped up and showed the class of a world champion to sink double five and give England the triumph.