Championship League Darts - Winners Group
BRILLIANT WADE DEFEATS TAYLOR FOR TITLE
James Wade claimed his second major title inside a week with a stunning 6-5 win over Phil Taylor in the final of
Championship League Darts.
Wade followed up Sunday's Bodog.com World Grand Prix victory in Dublin by becoming the third Championship League Darts winner, taking home the £10,000 first prize plus £13,700 which he won during the internet-streamed event. The left-hander had won Group Four to book his spot in the Winners Group, and took victory in five of his seven league games during the league phase to finish second behind unbeaten Taylor.
He then defeated Simon Whitlock 6-2 in the semis to book his place against Taylor in the final.
The world number two led on double ten but missed the bull for a 121 finish as Taylor landed a 93 finish and then broke on double top. Taylor then landed a 180 in a 13-darter to lead 3-1 before Wade punished one miss from the world number one in each of the next two legs to level.
The left-hander then held his nerve to take out 61 in two darts to lead 4-3 before Taylor powered in an 11-darter to level and took out double 18 to move a leg away from the win at 5-4. The duo hit 180s in the tenth, but it was Wade who forced a decider with an 84 finish on double 12. Three ton-plus scores took Wade to a finish first in the final leg, and when Taylor was unable to check out 164 he returned to take out 72 in two darts on double 12 for the title.
"It's amazing and it means a massive amount to me," said Wade.
"To defeat Phil in a major final is a huge achievement and
it's something I've wanted to do for a long time.
A month ago I was struggling with my game but it's such a different feeling for me now. I've won two majors and beaten Phil
in the final so this is a precious memory.
It's only a short format but I can go away from this and celebrate a win over Phil in a great game of darts, because he was
brilliant all day and it took some special darts to beat him.
Last week when I got to Dublin I was doubting myself but with winning the World Grand Prix and now Championship League Darts it shows that I deserve to be up there with the best players in the world. I'll be confident for the rest of the year now and I know I'm a bit of a handful for any player at the moment."
Taylor had lost to Colin Osborne in last year's final having won the inaugural event in 2008, and seemed determined to retain the title after sweeping through the league phase unbeaten.
He opened with a 6-1 defeat of Whitlock, a scoreline he repeated against Alan Tabern and Wade in the league stage as well as whitewashing Wes Newton.
He also whitewashed Steve Beaton in the semis, but fell just short of taking the top prize, and admitted: "It's disappointing to lose but James played superbly and full credit to him. I had played well throughout the day and I was close in the final, but he was just too good in the final leg."
Taylor, who had won Group One in September, took the £5,000 runner-up prize as well as £9,600 prize money to total £14,600 in the event, while Beaton and Whitlock took home an additional £2,500 for reaching the semis.
Whitlock claimed a semi-final spot with a whitewash of Wayne Jones in their winner-takes-all final league game, but ran out of steam against Wade in the last four.
Alan Tabern joined Jones in missing out on a top four place on leg difference, while Wes Newton's play-off challenge was effectively ended by back-to-back losses in mid-afternoon as he lost 6-1 to Andy Smith and 6-0 to Taylor. That victory proved to be Smith's only victory of the day as he failed to recapture the form which saw him win Group Seven on Tuesday.
The tournament's conclusion came alongside confirmation of a new, three-year contract between the Professional Darts Corporation and broadcasters Perform Group, who stream Championship League Darts through a series of bookmakers' websites around the world and on the PDC's official website, www.pdc.tv.
Pictures with courtesy of the PDC.