Sporting Life
James Wade (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
James Wade (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Darts results: James Wade wins his first Premier League Darts night in his fourth final

By Sporting Life
Darts
Thu April 14, 2022 · 3y ago

James Wade finally won his first Premier League Darts night after defeating Joe Cullen in his fourth final of the season.

Playing in front of the tournament's biggest ever crowd of around 12,000 at the AO Arena in Manchester, the Machine became the seventh different weekly winner after 10 Thursday nights of action, leaving Michael Smith as the only one yet to break his duck.

Wade, whose first final of the season came back in week two when Gerwyn Price hit his second nine-darter of the night, suffered 6-1 defeats to Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen in each of the last two Premier League finals but this time he saved his best performance of the season for the climax to pick up all five points.

The Englishman averaged a sparkling 105.48 and hit six of his nine darts at doubles in a superb display as Cullen piled on the pressure with his trademark power scoring.

Ultimately the difference proved to be the finishing, with the Rockstar spurning six of his 11 attempts although a fine checkout from 107 had put him 2-0 up early one.

Earlier Wade averaged 93 and fired in three 100+ checkouts including a crowd-pleasing 161 during his 6-2 victory over Gerwyn Price, who couldn't reproduce the same standard that propelled him to a 6-4 win against Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, while he started the night with a dominant 6-2 triumph over Gary Anderson in which he averaged 100.1.

"I've done it at last - I'm super happy!" said Wade. "You're playing against, in my opinion, the eight best players in the world every week, and it's hard work. If you hit a 60 at the wrong time, you get bashed.

"I nearly gave it away on two occasions there but I was fortunate enough and I prevailed. I think I was the better player so it was all good."

Cullen was chasing his second nightly win having triumphed in Rotterdam last month and almost brought the crowd to their feet for his exploits on the oche having already done so thanks to his "Don't look back in anger" walk-on song.

The Masters champion his six of his nine attempts at doubles in a superb 6-2 quarter-final defeat of Smith, before overcoming Jonny Clayton 6-3 in the last four.

Although Wade is toasting his first five-point haul, the night will also be remembered for Clayton's stunning clash with Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals.

The Ferret averaged 109.1 compared to MVG's 105.14 but had to survive a match dart from the Dutchman, who was attempting his fourth 100+ checkout in the deciding leg, before a clinical finish from 71 wrapped up a 12-darter.

More to follow...

Premier League night 10 results and averages

Quarter-finals

  • Peter Wright (93.98) 4-6 (97.01) Gerwyn Price
  • Gary Anderson (94.07) 2-6 (100.1) James Wade
  • Michael van Gerwen (105.14) 5-6 (109.1) Jonny Clayton
  • Joe Cullen (94.38) 6-2 (89.65) Michael Smith

Semi-finals

  • Gerwyn Price (90.49) 2-6 (93) James Wade
  • Jonny Clayton (101.76) 3-6 (94.99) Joe Cullen

Final

  • James Wade (105.48) 6-5 (96.93) Joe Cullen

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SEASON RESULTS, FIXTURES, STATS AND TABLE

Premier League Table & Format

NW = Nights won, RU = Runner-up, SF = Semi-final defeats, MW = Matches won

  1. MVG NW 3 RU 1 SF 2 MW 13 LegD +36 Pts 22
  2. Clayton NW 2 RU 1 SF 4 MW 12 LegD +7 Pts 21
  3. Wade NW 1 RU 3 SF 2 MW 11 LegD +2 Pts 18
  4. Wright NW 1 RU 1 SF 6 MW 10 LegD +1 Pts 18
  5. Cullen NW 1 RU 2 SF 2 MW 9 LegD -3 Pts 15
  6. Price NW 1 RU 0 SF 3 MW 6 LegD -6 Pts 11
  7. Smith NW 0 RU 2 SF 1 MW 5 LegD -14 Pts 8
  8. Anderson NW 1 RU 0 SF 1 MW 4 LegD -11 Pts 7

Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six). Each player will meet the other seven players twice over the course of the season in a quarter-final game, plus two further nights (Night Eight and Night 16) will feature additional fixtures in the same format. Those fixtures will be a draw bracket based on how the league table looks at the time. So, whoever is top will face the eighth-placed player in the first round.

  • Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus
  • Runner-Up - 3 points
  • Semi-Finalists - 2 points

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