BDO Darts World Championship Final – Adams v Chisnall

It literally is all down to the wire now in the BDO Darts World Championship at the Lakeside. Sunday’s final will see Dave Chisnall meeting Martin Adams. Chisnall’s performances at the World Championships have been startling impressive so far, especially as he was completely unseeded for the tournament, and has knocked out some of the biggest names on route to the highlight of his darting career. His impressive opening first round match, saw the 29-year old ousted fourth seed Dave Fitton from the competition, and from that stage he has not looked back.

After coming from 4-1 down to knock out 5th seed and reigning Champion Ted Hankey in the quarter finals, Chisnall then had another unenviable job on his hands. His semi final match was against Tony O’Shea, who was ranked number one for the tournament this year. But it was Chisnall again, after a slow start, falling behind 2-0, who upped a gear and looked extremely comfortable after clawing his way back into the match at three sets each. There was no stopping him then, as he destroyed O’Shea in the second half of their match, running out a 6-3 winner.

It is hard to say that he hasn’t fully earned his spot in the final, and now he comes up against favourite, even though not top seeded, Martin Adams. Adams was cruising in his semi final against Martin Phillips, racing out to be four sets to nothing up. But again, in what seems to be a running theme for the 2010 BDO Darts World Championship, there was a comeback on the card. After Adams had missed his chance at winning the match, that spurred Phillips into life, who clawed his way back to a 5-4 deficit. Adams is one experienced darts player though, having found himself in tough situations from comebacks from opponents before. It takes a lot of class in those situations to stop the flow against you, and just get the job done.

The Lakeside was probably awaiting an O’Shea v Adams final, but instead they are going to get a Chisnall v Adams one instead. One feature of Chisnall’s game has to come out firing on all cylinders after the mid-game intervals, but the truth is, is that he has had no other choice after falling behind at the start. It makes one wonder just what he could do if he could actually get his nose in front at the start of the match. That is perhaps what he will need to do against the more methodical Adams. Having won the World Masters for the last two years running, the World Championships have so far eluded him. This will now represent his best chance, and he will be favourite at the bookies.

But the underdog tale of Chisnall sees no sign of easing up. He looks confident and comfortable under the big spotlights of the Lakeside stage. Will this underdog have his day?

Martin Adams to win: Evens at SkyBet
Dave Chisnall to win: 10/11 at Paddy Power