James Wade dominates in Dublin to claim Premier League Darts Night 12 title
James Wade created a slice of personal history with a record average as he secured victory on Night 12 of the Premier League in Dublin on Thursday.
Wade, who triumphed in Manchester a fortnight ago, became only the third player to win multiple weekly titles since the inception of the new format as he produced a spell-binding display at the 3Arena.
The world number five survived three missed match darts from Michael van Gerwen in the opening match of the night to prevail in a deciding leg, before registering a personal record average of 114.73 in a 6-1 demolition of Gerwyn Price in the Semi-Finals.
The 2009 Premier League champion then overturned a 5-3 deficit to deny Jonny Clayton in the final and seal the £10,000 bonus.
Wade started the final strongly by opening up a 2-0 lead, but league leader Clayton quickly turned the tie in his favour as he strung together a run of four straight legs to move ahead.
Clayton then produced an 11-darter to move to the brink of victory at 5-3, but after surviving a missed match dart at the bull in the following leg, Wade closed the gap to one and landed a timely 118 checkout to break throw and force a decider.
Wade squandered the first opportunity for the match as he went inside on double 15 for a 90 finish, but only for Clayton to wire one match dart at tops, allowing the left-hander to return and pin double four for victory.
The victory moves Wade to within four points of Clayton at the top of the table – and level on points with Van Gerwen in second.
“I am just so happy,” said Wade. “All three matches had some magical moments, but it’s nice to win the last one.
“I’ve been here for 20 years and I am so happy with that. It is up there with my best performances and I’m so lucky to be involved in the Premier League.
“I’m not here to make the numbers up. I’m fighting amongst great dart players and legends in the game, but I believe I can still finish top.
“I know how good I am – I’m just as good as all of them, if not better at times, so I’m just happy to be part of it.”
Wade’s historic Semi-Final win over Price also saw him convert six doubles from seven attempts and land a ten-darter.
The ten-time major winner added: “It’s a great game to be involved in, but it’s just nice to mix it with the best darts players in the world.
“Every match tonight had a special moment to it. I wouldn’t say it was my best performance but statistically it was my best by a country mile.
“I’ve been involved in other games and situations where I’ve been right up against it. When I come off afterwards I thought I had got a bit lucky, but then when people relayed the statistics to me, I just thought ‘wow’.”
The visit to Dublin saw Clayton reach his fifth final of the season, with the reigning champion continuing his superb spell of form.
Clayton kicked off his night with a comfortable 6-3 win over Peter Wright, before defying a brilliant performance from Michael Smith in the Semi-Finals in a 6-4 comeback victory, having trailed 4-2.
The Semi-Final loss was another blow to Smith, who picked up his first win for five weeks by defeating Gary Anderson only to remain the only player in the Premier League without a weekly title to his name.
Nevertheless, the 31-year-old produced two strong performances, averaging 102 in his opening win over Anderson and 104.7 in defeat to Clayton, as he closed the gap slightly on the Play-Off places.
An out of sorts Cullen was beaten 6-3 by Price in the Quarter-Finals, leaving the Masters Champion five points adrift of the play-off places.
Price’s Semi-Final drubbing at the hands of Wade means he is now seven points adrift in his quest to reach Finals Night for the first time.
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Premier League Darts Night 12 Results
Thursday April 28
Quarter-Finals
James Wade 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Joe Cullen
Michael Smith 6-2 Gary Anderson
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Peter Wright
Semi-Finals
James Wade 6-1 Gerwyn Price
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Michael Smith
Final
James Wade 6-5 Jonny Clayton
