Kevin Munch leaves Wayne Mardle shocked after knocking out Adrian Lewis at World Darts Championship
Kevin 'The Dragon' Munch beat two-time world champion Adrian Lewis with checkouts of 158, 124 and 118
Wednesday 20 December 2017 14:37, UK
German qualifier Kevin Munch was the talk of the darting world after causing a massive upset at the World Darts Championship on Tuesday night.
Munch had to come through a preliminary contest to earn his match against Lewis and responded by defeating the Englishman 3-1 at Alexandra Palace.
Munch hit the bullseye to complete a 124 checkout and take a 2-1 lead, then settled matters on double eight to stun a man who reigned supreme at the event in 2011 and 2012.
The German kept his cool under immense pressure to beat Lewis and Sky Sports' darts analyst Mardle was left in shock as 'Jackpot' became the highest-profile casualty in what is proving to be a tournament of shocks.
Lewis has got an abundance of talent, but the one thing you can't buy and get back is composure and belief. He didn't deal with his composure at the very end of that match.
"The world has gone mad," said Mardle. "What a night he's had. He's gone and taken Adrian Lewis apart. He kind of played the way we expected Lewis to play with the 180s and the high finishes.
"He played with a freedom and composed himself so well for double eight.
"It wasn't vintage Adrian Lewis, but he didn't play badly. Where I think he's weaker now is when he's playing he doesn't impose himself on other players and he doesn't strut around the stage like he used to do.
"Lewis has got an abundance of talent, but the one thing you can't buy and get back is composure and belief. He didn't deal with his composure at the very end of that match."
Defeat in the first round is the latest setback in a miserable couple of years for 32-year-old Lewis, who is now destined to slip out of the world's top 16 for the first time in more than a decade.
"Adrian Lewis must be in shock," former three-time world champion John Part said. "I'm sure he's distraught. He needed to bully him early on to get him out, but he let Munch build and build, and sure enough he built to a height that even Adrian couldn't even match."
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