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.

🥈🥈🥈🏆

👏 If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. James Wade finally wins his first Premier League Darts night in his fourth final.pic.twitter.com/5OdJDY0gZB
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) April 14, 2022

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.

𝟭𝟲𝟭 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗞𝗢𝗨𝗧! 🔥

Unplayable.

James Wade pins the bull for a HUGE 161 finish and a 3-0 lead!#CazooPL pic.twitter.com/WE4fJzLmau
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 14, 2022

"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.

𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗧𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗔 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

WHAT. A. MATCH. 🤯

Jonny Clayton averages over 109 and clinches the deciding leg of an absolute BELTER against table topper MvG in a remarkable contest!

📺 Up next 👉 Michael Smith v Joe Cullen#CazooPL pic.twitter.com/uOeLrwaK2y
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 14, 2022

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

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