James Wade stormed to victory on day one of Championship League Darts – producing a virtuoso performance to beat Phil Taylor in a terrific match. And Taylor hit a magical 9-darter but he will have to try again on Wednesday!
It really was a great all Unicorn final, with Wade’s finishing giving him the edge and he won it 6 legs to 4 with a fantastic 100 check-out when Taylor was sat on 24!
“It was a great day,” said Wade. “I saved the best for last and it’s pleasing to be through to final’s day at the first attempt – especially after last year, when I made a mess of the event.”
In the final, no leg was won in more than 15 darts and both averaged around 108. Wade won the first and third legs – against the throw – with back-to-back 121 finishes on the bull and whatever Taylor had up his sleeve, Wade came up with more in the tank!
Seven consecutive legs went with throw….in one leg, Wade hit six perfect darts and in the 10th leg, his fifth 180 set up the victory.
In the group stages, Wade beat Taylor again – coming from 5-2 down to win 6-5…..Taylor was also beaten by Mervyn King in the group…..He was 3-0 in front, only for King to storm back to win 6-3.
Taylor’s seventh TV 9-darter came in the 6-1 win over John Part…..180, 180 and 141 – T20, T19 and D12…..there was no extra bonus though, because all he won was £50 for taking the leg!
In his semi-final, Wade came from 2-0 down to edge out King in a last leg decider and Unicorn’s World No.2 can now look forward to finals day on October 22.
Wade won £3,250 on the day and Taylor £2,950.
Elsewhere, there was huge disappointment for John Part…..Unicorn’s three-times World Champion couldn’t get used to the format on his CL darts debut and ended up bottom of the table with only one victory all day – that was a 6-4 win over Lewis.
