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

Darts results: James Wade averages 114 en route to winning the Premier League night in Dublin

By Sporting Life
Tennis
Thu April 28, 2022 · 3y ago

James Wade stole the show in Dublin as he averaged a personal best 114.73 en route to winning his second Premier League night of the season.

As usual, the Machine headed into the 12th night of action as one of the underdogs to go all the way despite the fact only Michael van Gerwen had reached more finals but laughed in the face of the odds to consolidate his top-four spot.

Wade defied MVG's average of 103 to win their quarter-final clash 6-5 before posting a personal best televised average of 114.73 during a 6-1 thrashing of Gerwyn Price, pinning six out of his seven doubles in the process and also weighing in with a 140 checkout.

The Englishman, who broke his nightly duck in Manchester earlier this month, then picked the pocket of in-form Jonny Clayton in the final despite his average of 95.68 being somewhat inferior to the Ferret's 101.29.

Ultimately his marginal more clinical finishing proved to be the difference, checking out from 118 on two occasions when Clayton was favourite to take the legs.

“I am just so happy," said Wade. "I’ve been here for 20 years and I am so happy with that. It is up there with performances and I am so lucky to be involved in it [The Premier League] still. 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."

On his 114 average, the 39-year-old said: "I wouldn’t say it was my best performance by 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’."

Clayton's 6-3 victory over Peter Wright and 6-4 triumph over Michael Smith saw him pick up three points from the night to move four clear of MVG at the top of the standings while Wade is only below the Dutchman on legs difference.

Price's 6-3 win over a struggling Joe Cullen, who averaged just 81 saw him cut the deficit on fourth-placed Wright to seven points but he'll surely need to win at least one or two of the remaining four nights to qualify for the play-offs.

Cullen is five behind Snakebite while Michael Smith is 10 behind after ending his losing streak with a 6-2 victory over rock bottom Gary Anderson in a quarter-final where both players averaged 102.

Bully Boy , who is the only player yet to win a night, was unfortunate to lose his semi-final with an average of 104.73 but he now needs a miracle to end up in the top four.

Premier League Night 12 Results & Averages

Quarter-Finals

  • James Wade (99.67) 6-5 (103.03) Michael van Gerwen
  • Gerwyn Price (90.06) 6-3 (81.02) Joe Cullen
  • Michael Smith (102.14) 6-2 (102.75) Gary Anderson
  • Jonny Clayton (100.44) 6-3 (97.09) Peter Wright

Semi-Finals

  • James Wade (114.73) 6-1 (99.17) Gerwyn Price
  • Michael Smith (104.73) 4-6 (104.16) Jonny Clayton

Final

  • James Wade (95.38) 6-5 (101.29) Jonny Clayton

CLICK HERE FOR FULL SEASON RESULTS, FIXTURES AND STATS

Premier League Table & Format

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

  1. Clayton NW 3 RU 2 SF 4 MW 17 LegD +17 Pts 29
  2. MVG NW 3 RU 2 SF 2 MW 15 LegD +40 Pts 25
  3. Wade NW 2 RU 3 SF 3 MW 15 LegD +6 Pts 25
  4. Wright NW 1 RU 1 SF 7 MW 11 LegD -2 Pts 20
  5. Cullen NW 1 RU 2 SF 2 MW 9 LegD -7 Pts 15
  6. Price NW 1 RU 0 SF 4 MW 7 LegD -11 Pts 13
  7. Smith NW 0 RU 2 SF 2 MW 6 LegD -13 Pts 10
  8. Anderson NW 1 RU 0 SF 1 MW 4 LegD -19 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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