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The Unicorn ace has followed up his brilliant World Grand Prix triumph with a wonderful weekend in Scotland – winning the UK Open Scottish Regional tournament and reaching the final of the Players Championship event.

Wade dominated Ronnie Baxter – claiming victory in the final of the UK Open Regional by 8 legs to 2. He was beaten by Andy Smith in the final of the Players Championship tournament.

But what a week it’s been for darts latest big star!

In the final against ‘The Rocket’, he lost the first leg but then produced 25 minutes of magical darts….a fantastic 170 finish in the third leg, was followed by a 90 check-out in the next, a 145 kill to go 5-2 in front, then a 128 to move within one leg of victory and he won it with a 105 in the 10th leg of the match….it was an awesome display.

Incredibly it was Wade’s 10th Pro Tour Final of the year and his second UK Open Regional triumph in three events…..remember, he beat Raymond Van Barneveld to take the Welsh Regional in Newport last month.

Wade beat Jason Clark in the semi-finals – it was back-to-back finals for Wade and back-to-back semi-finals for Clark, who also reached the last four in the Players Championship event.

Wade’s toughest test came in the last 16, when he was forced to dig deep to win a last leg decider against Mervyn King.

Kevin Painter reached the last 16 for the second successive day but again his luck was out, as he lost 5-3 to Baxter.

In the 4th Round, Terry Jenkins, Barrie Bates and Adrian Lewis all suffered narrow losses. Jenkins and Lewis both had their chances but lost last leg deciders against Jason Clark and Chris Thompson respectively, while Bates was beaten 5-3 by Wade.

Five Team Unicorn players went through the 3rd Round exit door…..Wes Newton lost 5-1 to Andy Jenkins, Andy Hamilton was beaten in a deciding leg by Mark Dudbridge, as were John Part and Bob Anderson – both beaten in the last leg by Steve Hine and Jelle Klaasen respectively.

Early on in the tournament, there was disappointment for Mick McGowan – totally out of form at the moment. He was beaten 5-4 by fellow Irishman Jason Barry…..Ricky Williams went down 5-0 against Steve Beaton and Kirk Shepherd couldn’t repeat his heroics from the Players Championship event, when he beat Chris Mason. This time, ‘Mace the Ace’ won 5-3.

Blue Square UK Open Scottish Regional

Results – last 16

Mark Dudbridge 5-0 Dennis Smith
Ronnie Baxter 5-3 Kevin Painter
Lionel Sams 5-4 Colin Monk
Denis Ovens 5-3 Mark Walsh
Jason Clark 5-2 Chris Thompson
Andy Jenkins 5-4 Peter Manley
James Wade 5-4 Mervyn King
Jelle Klaasen 5-1 Chris Mason

Losers - £400

Quarter-finals:

Ronnie Baxter 6-1 Mark Dudbridge
Denis Ovens 6-1 Lionel Sams
Jason Clark 6-3 Andy Jenkins
James Wade 6-1 Jelle Klaasen

Losers - £800

Semi-finals:

Ronnie Baxter 7-6 Denis Ovens
James Wade 7-3 Jason Clark

Losers - £1600

Final:

James Wade 8-2 Ronnie Baxter

Winner - £6,000

Runner-up - £3,000

In the Players Championship Pro Tour event, Wade was again running hot – but he came up against an inspired ‘Pie Man’ in the final! Andy Smith took the title – beating Wade by 3 sets to nil – with an average of nearly 109.

Wade had lost only one set en route to yet another final – including a victory over Kevin Painter – in the last 16…..but Smith scored heavily and hardly missed a double in the final – winning the match with a 121 check-out.

But Painter won £300, which could yet prove to be priceless. As it stands, he is still in the box seat to win one of those final two spots in the Grand Slam of Darts, through the PDC Order of Merit and every penny will count over the next few weeks for the Unicorn ace.

Colin Osborne is also chasing one of those places at the GSOD and he went down in the last 16 to surprise package Tony Randell…..the Warwickshire man enjoyed his best ever run in a PDC event, reaching the semi-finals, before he lost to Wade. Randell had beaten both Terry Jenkins and Wayne Mardle on the way.

Adrian Lewis and Bob Anderson also reached the 5th Round. Anderson was beaten by Denis Ovens and Lewis lost to ‘The Pie Man’……but in the 4th Round, Lewis beat Vincent van der Voort in a deciding set, after the Dutchman had missed three darts to win the match 3-0.

Unicorn youngster Kirk Shepherd enjoyed one of his best tournament runs this year – reaching the last 32. He had claimed the notable scalp of Chris Mason but eventually lost to Kevin Painter.

Other Team Unicorn results…..Andy Hamilton, Peter Manley and Barrie Bates all reached the 4th Round…..Bates went down 1-3 to Andy Smith, Manley lost 1-3 to Bob Anderson and Hamilton was beaten 3-2 by David Platt.

Terry Jenkins, John Part, Wes Newton, Mick McGowan and Ricky Williams all lost their first games on Saturday….Part lost 1-3 to Tony Eccles, McGowan was beaten by Gary Barnett, Jenkins lost a deciding set to Randell, Wes Newton went down 3-1 to Irishman James Keogh, while Williams failed to win a set against Mardle.

Players Championship results – last 16:

Jason Clark 3-2 Mark Dudbridge
Dennis Priestley 3-2 Colin Lloyd
Andy Smith 3-0 Adrian Lewis
Denis Ovens 3-1 Bob Anderson
James Wade 3-1 Kevin Painter
Dave Askew 3-2 Alan Caves
Wayne Mardle 3-2 David Platt
Tony Randell 3-1 Colin Osborne

Losers - £300

Quarter-Finals:

Jason Clark 3-2 Dennis Priestley
Andy Smith 3-1 Denis Ovens
James Wade 3-0 Dave Askew
Tony Randell 3-2 Wayne Mardle

Losers - £600

Semi-finals:

Andy Smith 3-1 Jason Clark
James Wade 3-0 Tony Randell

Losers - £1,250

Final:

Andy Smith 3-0 James Wade (2-1, 2-0, 2-1)

Winner - £5,000

Runner-up - £2,500

Unicorn’s 13-times World Champion Phil Taylor failed to make the Scottish double-header, due to other commitments.

BY STUART PYKE