Andy Hamilton has won his second major PDC title in the space of two months – beating James Wade to win the UK Open Midlands Regional event. And at the same time, he denied his Unicorn team-mate a UK Open double, after Wade’s triumph at the North West Open.
It was an against-the-odds triumph for Hamilton, who had very little sleep over the weekend and played through the pain barrier to take the title. He has been suffering from an ear infection and had been on strong antibiotics for five days.
It is also the first time that Hamilton has ever beaten Wade in competition!
He said: “It is a great win for me – for lots of reasons. I really feel confident that I can beat anyone on my day and I can live with the big names of the sport on the big stages in world darts. The aim is definitely to get in the 2008 Premier League and there’s no reason why I can’t achieve that.”
Hamilton takes £5,000 and Wade £2,500 as the Unicorn pair cement their places in the World’s top 12 but ‘The Hammer’ was forced to do it the hard way, with victories over Mervyn King and Wayne Mardle, before beating Wade by 2 sets to nil in a high quality final.
‘The Hammer’ nailed King in a thrilling quarter-final by 5 legs to 4….he went 3-1 up, before King came back and the former BDO star actually missed two darts at double 16 to win it….Hamilton hit a 75 finish to win the day.
He then beat Mardle by 2 sets to nil……in the first set, Hamilton’s 100 check-out was enough after Mardle just missed the bull for a 170 kill…..and he won the second set by 3 legs to 2 – a 13 darter clinching victory.
Wade was a convincing winner against Unicorn new boy Barrie Bates in the quarter-finals, despite the Welshman starting the match with five 180s and winning the first leg. The left-hander then saw off Kevin McDine by two sets to nil in the semi’s.
McDine had earlier beaten Jimmy Mann in a nail-biting quarter-final. The match went all the way to a decider leg, which McDine won with a 164 finish!
Hamilton adds this title to his Stan James Players Championship victory in Gibraltar in January. In the first set of the final, it went 1-0 to Wade….1-1 with a 120 finish….2-1 thanks to a Wade 13 darter….2-2 after a Hamilton 14 darter, then ‘The Hammer’ broke the throw to take the set after Wade had missed a dart at double top to take it.
There was an 11-darter from Wade in the second set but Hamilton wasn’t to be denied – winning it 3-1 and the celebrations started, as the Stoke man continued his push up the world rankings.
Results:
Quarter-finals (legs):
Andy Hamilton 5-4 Mervyn King
Losers - £600
Semi-finals (sets):
Andy Hamilton 2-0 Wayne Mardle (3-1, 3-2)
Losers - £1,250
Final:
Andy Hamilton 2-0 James Wade (3-2, 3-1)
Winner - £5,000
BY STUART PYKE
