TheOche.com

Source: AFP:

LONDON (AFP) ? Canadian John Part won the PDC World Championship darts title here on Tuesday with a 7-2 victory over English qualifier Kirk Shepherd in the final at Alexandra Palace.

The 41-year-old, who won the BDO title in 1994 and the PDC crown in 2003, becomes a member of an elite group who have won either version of the world championship more than twice.

He joins 13-time champion Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow (five titles) and John Lowe (three) as the only other player to have completed the feat.

“It is harder when you are older. I was worried as it was getting hot and the fingers were getting slippy.

“He (Shepherd) seemed to be getting confident so I’m happy I closed it out when I did because he could have been a lot of trouble.

“It is unbelievable, absolutely fantastic. I just came over and wanted to have a good performance,” added Part, who took home 100,000 pounds (198,700 dollars) with Shepherd claiming 50,000 pounds.

Part won the first leg and never looked back, claiming the first two sets 3-2 with the next two taken 3-0 as he won seven legs in succession.

Shepherd, a 500-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, ended that run by taking the lead in the fifth and the 21-year-old fought back from 2-1 down to win his first set.

Part took the next but an extraordinary 160-finish by Shepherd after his opponent missed double eight made it 5-2.

It was only a brief respite, however, as the Canadian continued his dominance to close out the match with the next two sets.

Shepherd added: “I’ve reached the final of the hardest darts competition in the world and I’m so proud of that.

“I didn’t start off well – at 4-0 down against a player like John it is very hard to get back into it. I’ll be back, this is the start of things.”

Original article HERE.