JAMES WADE produced a remarkable comeback from 9-2 down against Mervyn King to take The Unibet Masters title with a stunning 11-10 triumph at the Royal Highland Centre on Sunday night. Wade picked up his first major TV title for three years in an incredible final session in Edinburgh, following up his sublime wins over Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals and semi-finals with a gutsy display in the decider. The left-hander had slumped to a 10-1 defeat to Taylor in the semis on the same stage 12 months earlier, but confirmed his resurgence into the winners circle on the televised stage in gritty fashion. King, taking on the momentum of his 11-9 semi-final win over World Champion Michael van Gerwen, stormed into a 5-0 lead in the final with the aid of two 180s and some clinical finishing as he averaged 109 in the opening session. Wade cut the gap to 6-2, but paid for missed doubles in the next two as King moved into a six-leg lead and then posted double 16 for a 9-2 cushion. The left-hander won the next four legs to pull back to 9-6 as Kings doubles began to desert him, but a miss at double 12 for a 138 checkout saw the comeback halted in stunning fashion as the world number 12 took out a brilliant 158. The tension increased as King missed seven match darts across the next two legs and Wade continued his revival, before the world number six posted a fourth 180 of the game and hit tops to pull back to 10-9. King then missed the bull to take victory in the next with an eighth match dart as Wade finished double ten to force a deciding leg, which he claimed with a fabulous 135 finish on double top. Wade had been on the receiving end of a fightback from Scott Waites in the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts final as he saw an 8-0 lead slip away before he suffered a 16-12 defeat, but he was proud of a memorable display in Edinburgh. Im still a little bit numb, but Im feeling great and Im so happy, said Wade. I shouldnt have won that game but somehow I have and its not sunk in yet. I didnt deserve to win and I feel a bit guilty, but somehow I did it. Ive never won a game of darts like that in my life, but I took my chances. It hurt to lose to Scott Waites but when the 135 went in I couldnt hold my emotions in any more. Im stubborn and I believe Im the only person that could have won that game from that position at the moment. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals I think I was pretty good. They were both 105 averages and I dont think many players could do that two games in a row, especially against the players I played, Adrian Lewis and Phil Taylor. The left-hander had reached last months World Grand Prix final and has won two ranking events during 2014 in his return to top form, and added: Everythings going brilliantly and Im playing the best darts of my life at the moment. At the beginning of the year I set a target out to win a floor tournament and win a TV tournament, so Im ahead of myself with two months to spare! Im grateful to come back from where I was to be playing how I am right now. In the last six or seven months Ive been doing a lot of harm and hurting a lot of players, and I wouldnt want to play me at the moment. King - a semi-finalist in last weekends European Championship - took home £20,000 as runner-up but was left to rue his eight missed match darts as he suffered defeat in a fourth major PDC final. Sponsors Unibet had stopped taking bets on King to win the game when he led 9-2, with Wade 50/1 at that time before mounting his fightback. I had my chances and didnt take it, and James did so fair play to him, said King. James stuck in there and was the better player on the day, and he deserved to win. Ive had a great weekend and Ive done exceptionally well to reach the final, but Ill be back and hopefully I can take the chance next time it comes. King had earlier defeated World Champion Michael van Gerwen 11-9 in a thrilling semi-final. King took out finishes of 128, 140 and 80 on the bull at key times during the game, and though van Gerwen hit back from 9-7 down to level, tops edged the Englishman away before he took out 121 on the bull for victory. Its very disappointing for me but Mervyn played superbly and deserved to win, said van Gerwen. Ive had a great run recently and I played well again, but Mervyn was the better player in this game.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 09:03:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015