It was fourth time lucky for James Wade, who claimed victory on Night 10 of the Premier League roadshow in Manchester as 'The Machine' beat Gary Anderson, Gerwyn Price and Joe Cullen in the final to finally walk away with maximum points and £10,000 bonus
Friday 15 April 2022 06:14, UK
James Wade made it fourth time lucky as he finally claimed Premier League success in front of a record-breaking crowd in Manchester on Thursday.
'The Machine' became the seventh different winner of a Premier League night, defeating Joe Cullen in a deciding leg to clinch glory in front of 12,000 fans at the AO Arena - a record crowd for the tournament in the UK.
He impressively saw off Gary Anderson and Gerwyn Price on his way to the final where he defeated Joe Cullen in a deciding leg shoot-out to get over the winning line.
A beaten finalist in the previous two weeks, Wade averaged 105.48 on his way to a 6-5 win over Cullen.
Back-to-back 6-2 triumphs over first Anderson and then Price sent Wade through to a third consecutive Premier League final, and this time he made it count with 15 scores of 140 or more highlighting his consistency at the oche.
"I've done it at last - I'm super happy!" said Wade, who was the runner-up in Belfast, Birmingham and Leeds.
"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."
The 2009 Premier League champion added: "I'm trying as hard as anyone, probably harder than most people, and I believe I'm one of the best. I'm here for a reason.
"I'm enjoying myself, playing good darts at times. I'm playing against the best eight players in the world, which is an honour for me.
"I feel I'm mixing with them and I'm glad to be here. I'm so nervous up there but at times I'm close to my best game."
Masters champion Cullen, a winner in Rotterdam, had seen off Michael Smith and Jonny Clayton to reach a second final of his maiden tournament.
Wade's success moves him up to third in the league table, above Wright, while Cullen is three points adrift of the top four as the race for Play-Off places intensifies.
Clayton won arguable the match of the season as the Welshman averaged over 109 to Michael van Gerwen's 1-5 before clinching the deciding leg against the table-topper in a remarkable contest.
The Dutchman landed three ton-plus finishes in four legs (152, 131 and 112) and, after he missed a match dart at the bullseye, Clayton took the match to an 11th and deciding leg in which he he took out 71 to seal a sensational win.
Elsewhere, Price walked out to his new walk-on song by Katie Perry as he 'roared' to victory against Peter Wright before he succumbed to eventual winner Wade, who is third in the standings and on course to qualify for the play-offs in Berlin later this year.
The Premier League season continues with a return to P&J Live in Aberdeen, where Scottish heroes Anderson and Wright open up against Clayton and Cullen respectively.
Wade then plays Smith before Price takes on Van Gerwen in a mouth-watering quarter-final.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. We're back for more Premier League action from the P&J Live in Aberdeen on Thursday, April 21 - live on Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Action from 7pm.
