BDO World Darts Championship: Glen Durrant retains title after beating Mark McGeeney 7-6 in a thrilling Lakeside final
Glen Durrant retained his BDO world darts title after defeating our 25/1 each-way tip Mark McGeeney 7-6 in a thrilling Lakeside final on Sunday.
The Teesider lifted the trophy for the first time in his career 12 months ago and kept hold of it by the skin of his teeth after surviving two match darts from 4/1 outsider McGeeney.
'Duzza' went into the clash as 1/5 favourite having stormed his way into the final - albeit with one major scare along the way against Jim Williams in the last eight - with a tournament average of 98 but trailed 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 in a hard-fought contest.
But from that moment he found another gear as he won 9 out of the next 10 legs to move 6-4 ahead in sets, with McGeeney's only leg in that spell coming by virtue of a match high 157 checkout.
At that moment Durrant was 1/50 to close out victory but the Gladiator, who was tipped by our in-form darts expert Chris Hammer at 25/1 each-way before the tournament began, dug deep to pull another set back as his opponent began to struggle badly on his doubles.
Durrant missed 10 darts to move to within a leg of victory and McGeeney pounced on the defending champion's nerves with consistent ice cool finishing to force a deciding set.
When leading 2-1, the BDO world ranked number one player spurned darts at double 18 and double nine to land his first world title as Durrant pinned a nervy double one to restore parity.
Now both players needed to win by two clear legs and it was the Middlesbrough man who edged one step closer to a dramatic victory when landing a stunning 149 checkout from nowhere.
McGeeney was clearly affected by his missed chances to claim glory as Durrant raced away with what proved to be the final leg of the match, pinning double three for glory.
The 47-year-old, who hit 15 180s in the final compared to McGeeney's 10, said: "My bottle had gone, there was no way I was hitting doubles at one point in that match. Somewhere, somehow, I found some and to get back to 2-2 in that last set was incredible. That's probably the best performance in my life in darts."
Durrant is only the the ninth player to have lifted the trophy more than once, joining Eric Bristow (five), Raymond van Barneveld (four), John Lowe (three), Martin Adams (three), Ted Hankey (two), Phil Taylor (two), Scott Waites (two) and Jocky Wilson (two).
But only Bristow, Barney and Adams had previously retained the title.
Durrant said: "Wow. Barney, Brissy, Wolfy (Adams), they are the legends. It will take a while to comprehend what just what happened. It is just really, really special and I know everyone back home will be so super proud of me.
"Two-times world champion. What a thought. Big respect to Mark. I am sure his time will come."
Followers of our darts tipster will no doubt be thinking what could have been but it's been a profitable few weeks, with 16/1 selection Rob Cross landing the PDC World Championship.
Tournament statistics: Durrant & McGeeney
Glen Durrant
1st rd - 3-0 v Gary Robson (Av 95.29)
2nd rd - 4-1 v Darryl Fitton (99.43)
QF - 5-4 v Jim Williams (100.92)
SF - 6-2 v Scott Waites (96.61)
F - 7-6 v Mark McGeeney (av to appear here)
Total 180s: 43
Tournament Ave: 96.90
Highest Checkout: 158
Legs won-lost: 92-58
Mark McGeeney
1st rd - 3-2 v Martin Adams (86.19)
2nd rd - 4-1 v Danny Noppert (92.13)
QF - 5-4 v Wayne Warren (91.47)
SF - 6-4 v Michael Unterbuchner (88.84)
F - 6-7 v Glen Durrant (av to appear here)
Total 180s: 25
Tournament Ave: 88.65
Highest Checkout: 160
Legs won-lost: 88-87