Masters Darts results: Gerwyn Price crashes out to James Wade as Michael Smith and Peter Wright win

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Price hopes ended by Wade

Gerwyn Price's recent problems continued as he was beaten by fellow public enemy number one contender James Wade in the opening round of the BetVictor Masters.

The unpopular Grand Slam of Darts champion, who has been roundly booed by the lion's share of darts fans since that bad-tempered victory over Gary Anderson last November, never got going in a 10-7 defeat.

Price has now lost his last three televised matches dating back to his crowning moment in Wolverhampton, falling at the first hurdles in both the Players Championship Finals and PDC World Championship prior to the traditional 2019 PDC season opener here in Milton Keynes.

And, of course, there was that mammoth fine of £21,500 and a three-month suspended sentence for him to deal with away from the oche.

Wade is far from being the people's choice either due to his disgraceful behaviour against Seigo Asada at the Ally Pally and is still awaiting to find out what sanctions he'll receive from the Darts Regulatory Authority, but for the time being his Masters journey continues.

The Machine, who is seeking his third TV title in recent months having bagged the European Championship and World Series of Darts Finals towards the end of the 2018 season, only averaged 87 compared to Price's 94 and they both hit 33.33% of their doubles but he typically hit 10 from 30 attempts at the key times in a mediocre contest.

The damage was done in the opening seven legs as Wade stormed into a 6-1 lead and although Price showed signs of resistance by taking out 90, 100 and 73 to claim three of the next five legs, Wade then moved one away from victory.

The former rugby union player did not lie down as he won a further three on the trot but it was too little too late.

Wade said: "I didn't play as well as I wanted to but he gave me the opportunities and I took them. People know that if they don't take out their doubles against me, I'll be there."

Rockstar pulls the plug on Voltage

Joe Cullen made a winning start to his Masters debut as he defeated the 2018 world champion Rob Cross with an impressive 10-6 triumph.

The Rockstar, who was tipped up at 80/1 each-way in our pre-tournament preview, blasted out of the blocks to open up leads of 2-0 and 4-1, only for a sluggish world number two to land a 124 checkout.

Voltage took the next leg but then spurned two darts at a double to level the scores in the next as Cullen made him pay by completing a 14-darter.

Cross, who endured a difficult 2018 before suffering a surprise defeat to Luke Humphries at the World Championship, struggled to produce his best form but was able to close to within one leg again at 7-6 thanks to back-to-back 13-darters.

However Cullen turned on the style by averaging 108 in the next three legs and also fired in a 107 checkout to book his place in Sunday afternoon's quarter-finals.

The Bradford man's average of 95 was less than Cross' 98 but he did throw one more 180 with six and impressively hit 10 of his 21 double attempts in a clinical display of finishing - unlike his world championship nightmare against Brendan Dolan when he missed 16 out of 17!

Cullen, who defeated Cross from 6-1 down in their previous meeting at the European Championship, said: "It feels really good. We were both a bit rusty early on but I got ahead and stayed there. I don't feel like I turned up today and it was probably a 6/10 performance, but I got through.

"I had a good 2018 and I want to keep on progressing. This is a great event to be in, it's the elite and to get a win over the world number two is fantastic."

Bully Boy leaves Diamond in the rough

Michael Smith showed no signs of rustiness as he averaged 101 in a 10-5 triumph over his close friend Ian White.

Bully Boy admitted in a recent interview with Sporting Life that he'd hardly practiced since losing the World Championship final to Michael van Gerwen due to his Wedding Day and honeymoon which quickly followed in January, but you'd never really have guessed on this evidence.

That said, White made him work hard in the first half of the match as the Stoke man fought back from 3-1 down to level the scores at 5-5 with the help of a superb 11-darter.

Smith, who was runner-up in three of his other four televised finals last year including the Premier League, then blazed his way to victory by taking the next legs on the trot including two 14-darters and one in 13.

The St Helens man his three more 180s with four and was far more clinical on his doubles, hitting 10 of his 18 attempts as a wasteful White missed 16 of his 21 as he lost his first-round match here for the fifth year in a row.

Snakebite edges thriller

Peter Wright fought back from three alarming deficits and survived two match darts against Adrian Lewis in a dramatic last-leg decider as he set up a quarter-final meeting with Michael Smith.

Snakebite found himself 3-0, 7-4 and 8-6 behind but showed plenty of fighting spirit in a match which was short on quality from either player.

The Scotsman is looking to reach the heights of 2017 after a below-par 2018, which culminated in a shock early exit at the World Championship, and he'll need to improve on his average of 89 if he's to trouble Bully Boy on Sunday afternoon.

Lewis opened the match with an 11-darter and although he saw his 3-0 lead wiped out when Wright won four legs on the trot, he responded by taking the next four, including a 101 checkout.

At 8-6 down, Wright produced a classy finish from 120 before taking the next two legs only for Jackpot to hit back under pressure to force a final leg.

With the advantage of throw, Snakebite reached a finish first but when requiring 60 with two darts in hand, he found the single one which presented Lewis with a golden opportunity.

Needing 97, the former two-time world champion, who had won his last eight deciding legs in this format, hit treble 19 with his first dart but spurned his efforts at double tops and 10, before Wright came back to finish the job.

Lewis averaged slightly better with 92 and hit two more 180 with three but his 19 missed doubles - compared to Wright's 16 - proved costly.

"It's great to win but it was tough," said Wright. "I think we were both battling ourselves and not each other.

"I've worked really hard this month so I stuck with it and got through. If I could take my practice game up there, it would have been a lot better. Tomorrow's a different day so we'll see what happens - I've got time to improve."

Tournament results so far & Sunday schedule

Friday February 1
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: ITV 4
First Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Daryl Gurney 8-10 Dave Chisnall
• Mensur Suljovic 10-1 Simon Whitlock
• Stephen Bunting 10-9 Darren Webster
• Michael van Gerwen 10-5 Jonny Clayton

Saturday February 2
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: ITV 4
First Round (Best of 19 legs)

• Gerwyn Price 7-10 James Wade
• Rob Cross 6-10 Joe Cullen
• Michael Smith 10-5 Ian White
• Peter Wright 10-9 Adrian Lewis

Sunday February 3
Afternoon Session (12.45pm)
TV Coverage: ITV 4
Quarter-Finals (Best of 19 legs)

• Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting
• Michael van Gerwen v Mensur Suljovic
• Joe Cullen v James Wade
• Michael Smith v Peter Wright

Evening Session (7pm)
Semi-Finals (Best of 21 legs)

• Two matches

Final (Best of 21 legs)

• Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

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