The Return of Jackpot might sound like some dodgy Star Wars spin-off. Thankfully, this one doesn’t involve Sith Lords, sarcastic droids, or Jedi Knight’s waving around multi-coloured light-sabres. No – this is about a man once as deadly on the oche as Darth Vader aboard the Death Star: Adrian Lewis.
After more than two years away, the two-time PDC World Champion finally made his competitive comeback at the MODUS Live Lounge. To be fair, Aide hadn’t vanished like Lord Lucan before suddenly rocking up in Portsmouth asking if anyone fancied a leg. No, he’s been knocking about the exhibition circuit – having fun, smiling, and making maximums look disgustingly easy.
His last PDC appearance came at a Players Championship in Barnsley. A town where, let’s be honest, after a few days you’d be yearning for home – especially if you keep losing darts matches. That was March 2023. Enough was enough, and Jackpot stepped away.
How long for? Not even Lewis knew. Health concerns for his wife and the grind of tour life since his teens had taken their toll and caught up with him. It was a case of getting out of Dodge and seeing how life felt without the weekly grind.
Turns out, it did him the world of good. The Stoke legend is now smiling again, enjoying his darts, and crucially, ready to test himself once more.
So the long-awaited competitive Adrian Lewis Return Tour began in Portsmouth, where he paired up with fellow darting legend Steve Beaton in the MODUS International Pairs. Not the dream comeback fairy-tale, as the duo failed to make it out of their group, but there were flashes of the old Jackpot – smooth throw, easy maximums, all done with a happy grin on his face.
Okay, it wasn’t peak Lewis. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and careers aren’t resurrected in one weekend. There’s a gulf between chucking for fun at exhibitions and grinding it out for serious prize money. But it’s a start. And with Adrian, that’s always half the battle.
He stuck around Pompey too, joining Phil Taylor for a Q&A. Between the two of them they could probably wallpaper the venue with trophies and still have silverware left over to prop up the bar. Then, on Sunday, Lewis teamed up with YouTuber JaackMaate for the MODUS Influencers event – more tongue-in-cheek than tungsten serious, but another outing to stretch the arm.
Ask anyone in darts and they’ll tell you Adrian Lewis is one of the most naturally gifted players ever. Even in the age of Littler mania, that view hasn’t changed. Talent was never the damning reason for the walkaway – it was the hunger, the drive, the inner battle between genius and distraction – combined with the family pressures that can hit us all. Form fades, but class, as they say, is permanent.
At 40, Lewis is hardly ancient by darting standards. He’s still young enough to stage a proper comeback – though maybe youngster is stretching things a bit when you’re closer to holidaying in Great Yarmouth than Ibiza. The point is: he’s got time. When The Power (Phil Taylor) thinks you’ll be back then perhaps…
And if the demons that made him walk away are now behind him, then with fire back in the belly there’s no reason Jackpot can’t lift more major silverware. The raw ability never went anywhere. The only question is whether the desire has returned with it.
Might a trip to the arduous Q-School in January be on the cards? Until then we have to cross our fingers and wait. As always, time will tell.
—–ENDS—–
Images: Darts World Instagram
