Ladbrokes World Championship: Lewis fancied to retain title in 2013
Published:Adrian Lewis’s victory in the Ladbrokes World Championship may still be sinking in for the Stoke man but he’s already heavily fancied to retain his title in 2013.
Lewis landed consecutive world crowns at Alexandra Palace thanks to his comfortable 7-3 win over Andy Hamilton.
Lewis is only the second player in the history of the PDC event to retain the title and has been priced at 5/1 with Ladbrokes to make it a hat-trick in 2013.
David Williams of Ladbrokes said: “It was a record-breaking tournament with the biggest turnover we have ever seen in world darts.
“Phil Taylor’s early exit threw the betting wide open and punters couldn’t get enough of it.
“We’ve never seen a busier time over Christmas but punters finished on the front foot with a Lewis win.”
The win for Lewis is still not enough to see him usurp his mentor and 15-times world champion Phil Taylor at the top of the betting though.
Despite his exit at the hands of Dave Chisnall in the second round, Taylor is the early 5/1 favourite to claim his 16th title.
‘The Power’ has never gone more than two years without winning the tournament since its inception back in 1994 but will have his work cut out to get back to the top next year.
Meanwhile, further down the betting, losing finalist Hamilton is out at 20/1 to win his first title, while Raymond van Barneveld is still amongst the favourites at 16/1 despite his first round exit this time out.
2013 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship
5/2 Phil Taylor
5/1 Adrian Lewis
6/1 Gary Anderson
8/1 James Wade
8/1 Simon Whitlock
16/1 Raymond van Barneveld
20/1 Andy Hamilton
33/1 bar
