World darts

Two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis won a thrilling battle against Spain’s Cristo Reyes at the William Hill World Darts at Alexandra Palace yesterday, coming back from two sets down to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Lewis narrowly missed double-12 for a nine-darter as he rallied back from the brink to move into the third round, where he will play Darren Webster.

“If I play like I did in the last few sets then I’ll be fine but if I play like I did in the first two then I’ll be in trouble,” said Lewis.

“If I can almost hit a nine-darter it shows that I’m playing pretty well and I feel like I can carry that form on.” Simon Whitlock eased past Harry Ward with a straight sets success, in which the Australian No. 1 dropped just two legs. Former World Championship finalist Whitlock will face Mervyn King in Round Three as he bids to reach the last 16 for the first time in six years. Ryan Searle’s 101.54 average became the highest of the tournament so far as he defeated Steve West by three sets to nil. Devon darter Searle won every set 3-2 to book his place in the last 32, where he will take on Scotland’s twotime World Champion, Gary Anderson (above).

Seigo Asada completed a great escape to stun Keegan Brown, who won the first seven legs of their dramatic tie before falling to a tiebreak defeat against the Japanese ace. World cup semi-finalist Asada took the final set 4-2 with a match-winning 11-darter to set up a third-round meeting with Scot Peter Wright.