Darts results: Robert Thornton beats Martin Adams 5-1 in World Seniors Darts Championship Final at the Circus Tavern

The 54-year-old, who overcame BDO stalwart Darryl Fitton to open his major account in the 2007 World Masters, made his name in the PDC when stunning Phil Taylor 11-5 in the 2012 UK Open final before increasing his tally further at the 2015 World Grand Prix with an forgettable 5-4 triumph over Michael van Gerwen.

Standing in his way at the iconic Circus Tavern was three-time Lakeside king Martin Adams and although the Thorn wasn't playing the underdog role that he used to thrive in on those previous occasions, he revelled as the favourite in a rampant 5-1 victory.

Thornton threw nine of the 17 180s and averaged just under 93 compared to Wolfie's highly-creditable 89, although he did miss five match darts to whitewash the 65-year-old in the fifth set.

Another five came and went in a nervy sixth set before he finally wrapped up an emotional victory in the deciding leg.

The Scotsman was averaging 119 when cruising through the opening set 3-0 in just 38 darts and although his levels dropped significantly from those astronomical levels in the second, he still did enough to take that one without dropping leg.

Wolfie, who won three World Masters titles during the peak of his career from 2007 and 2011, finally got a leg on the board at the start of the third but subsequently lost the next three to fall further behind as Thornton got his average back towards the 100 mark with the help of a fine 116 checkout.

The Thorn pinched the fourth in a deciding leg when Adams was waiting to come back on tops but was punished for those five missed match darts in the fourth leg of the fifth before losing the decider.

That merely delayed the inevitable, however, and despite spurning another five across the fourth and fifth legs of the sixth set, he eventually sealed the £30,000 top prize on double two.

Such a cheque - and the glory of lifting such a special trophy - will no doubt partly make up for the disappointment of missing out on a PDC Tour Card at Q School and on this evidence, he could well be back in the big leagues this time next year.

Semi-final review

Martin Adams battled past Terry Jenkins to reach the inaugural World Seniors Darts Championship final, where he will meet Robert Thornton for the title.

The legendary three-time Lakeside champion, who also won a trio of World Masters crowns during the peak of his career from 2007 and 2011, continued to roll back the years at the Circus Tavern with another average of almost 90.

Adams had to produce such a levels of performance that belies his 65 years of age as he came from 1-0 down against the popular nine-time PDC major runner-up in a hard-fought contest.

A superb checkout of 145 saw him clinch the third set in a decider for a 2-1 lead only for the ever-popular Jenkins to hit back with a fair of 14-darters in the fourth to square up the match.

Wolfie pinched the fifth set 3-2 and looked on course to wrap up victory when leading 2-0 in the sixth, only for Jenkins to take out 91 on the bullseye when his opponent waited on 38 to keep the match alive.

Adams couldn't hold back the laughter but he soon composed himself to get the job done in the next, sparking howls of celebrations from the crowd.

Thornton had earlier booked his place in tonight's final with a 4-2 victory over Phil Taylor's conqueror Kevin Painter.

The Scotsman, who was tipped on these pages at 13/2 before a dart was thrown, had been consistently the best player of the tournament with three averages of over 90, including the highest of 94.66 in round one, and although this latest effort of 87.31 was slightly less, he'll still be widely fancied to see off Adams.

Thornton threw eight 180s during the contest compared to Painter's three and also kicked things off with a 115 checkout as he won the opening set 3-0.

The Artist, who emphatically upset the odds to beat Taylor for just the second time at the 34th attempt last night, got himself back on level terms when Thornton spurned darts at double in the deciding leg of the second but his roof raising 170 checkout in the fourth set wasn't enough to prevent him falling 3-1 down.

Painter did pull a set back before the Thorn completed the job in the sixth.

World Senior Darts Championship schedule and results

Thursday February 3
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
First Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Robert Thornton (94.66) 3-0 (80.91) Bob Anderson
• Peter Manley (76.16) 3-1 (71.49) Deta Hedman
• Tony O'Shea (84.40) 2-3 (85.27) Kevin Painter
• Darryl Fitton (76.69) 2-3 (83.07) Richie Howson

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Friday February 4
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
First Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Les Wallace (74.32) 2-3 (76.39) John Walton
• Paul Lim (84.95) 1-3 (90.15) Dave Prins
• Alan Warriner-Little (56.81) 0-3 (88.99) Larry Butler
• Terry Jenkins (84.32) 3-0 (76.19) Roland Scholten

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)

• Wayne Warren (75.52) 0-3 (94.59) Kevin Painter
• Martin Adams (91.46) 3-2 (87.45) Richie Howson
• Phil Taylor (81.29) 3-1 (74.43) Peter Manley
• Trina Gulliver (74.19) 0-3 (92.63) Robert Thornton

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Saturday February 5
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Second Round (Best of 5 sets)

• John Part (74.68) 1-3 (77.15) John Walton
• Lisa Ashton (80.66) 1-3 (86.58) Terry Jenkins
• John Lowe (71.77) 0-3 Dave Prins (90.79)
• Keith Deller (74.33) 2-3 Larry Butler (78.74)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/Website
Quarter-Finals (Best of 5 sets)

• John Walton (75.44) 1-3 (77.02) Terry Jenkins
• Robert Thornton (91.17) 3-0 (77.27) Dave Prins
• Phil Taylor (86.10) 0-3 (88.88) Kevin Painter
• Larry Butler (83.49) 1-3 (84.83) Martin Adams

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Sunday February 6
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Semi-Finals (Best of 7 sets)

• Kevin Painter (84.15) 2-4 (87.31) Robert Thornton
• Terry Jenkins (86.32) 2-4 (88.97) Martin Adams

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
TV Coverage: BBC i Player/BT Sport
Final (Best of 9 sets)

• Robert Thornton 5-1 Martin Adams
  (Set scores: 3-0, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-2)

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