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KING STUNS WADE IN BETVICTOR WORLD MATCHPLAY AS ANDERSON CRUISES THROUGH

JAMES WADE was knocked out of the BetVictor World Matchplay in the first round for the first time in his illustrious career as clinical Mervyn King claimed a superb 10-5 success in Blackpool on Sunday evening, as World Champion Gary Anderson cruised past debutant Alan Norris.

Left-hander Wade, the 2007 World Matchplay champion, has never failed to reach at least the quarter-finals in ten previous Winter Gardens appearances, winning through to six finals in the process. However, he was left stunned as King, the 2009 semi-finalist, produced a brilliant performance to upset the odds and knock out the world number six. King pounced on missed doubles from Wade to win the first two legs and then finished 82 on the bull for a 3-0 lead, with Wade hitting back on tops only to see his rival take out 120 and 100 as he moved 6-1 up. Wade claimed two of the next three before King fired in a brilliant ten-darter, and though the left-hander continued to battle he was unable to claim a break of throw as the Norfolk thrower held his nerve to close out victory with ten doubles from 15 attempts.

"James is a fantastic player but he wasn't on top of his game tonight," said King, who now plays either Raymond van Barneveld or Brendan Dolan. "It was nice to win but James was under par and I'm going to take it with both hands and go into the next round. It felt good, and from the world go I felt in control of my darts. My finishing was great but I've been playing like that all year and not getting the results so hopefully now it's going to start going my way."

Wade conceded: "Mervyn played by far better for the whole game and I didn't play well, I didn't delivery. He smashed me out of sight and did the job. I was feeling really confident about this tournament, but I wasn't good enough."

World Champion Anderson, the number two seed, stormed past Alan Norris 10-1, with the debutant winning the opening leg with a 104 checkout only to see the Scot pull clear. Anderson reeled off ten straight legs, including a fine 139 checkout, a 108 finish and four 14-darters as he powered into a second round clash with Terry Jenkins with a 101 average.

"I've known Alan for a long time and he's a very good player, but he missed a few big checkouts and it was one of those games where everything went just about to plan," said Anderson. I'm enjoying it and I'm in a good place just now. It's going well but I want to win this. Terry's a thorn in my side but I've got a lot of respect for him. He's a classy player and he doesn't give you an inch."

2013 Blackpool finalist Adrian Lewis battled past Mark Webster with a 10-6 win as he came from 5-4 down to win six of the final seven legs and take victory - setting up a revenge mission in round two against another Welshman, Gerwyn Price, who ended his hopes at the Winter Gardens a year ago.
Lewis took out 95 and 121 to win the opening two legs before Webster won three in a row to move ahead, including a 116 checkout, while he also finished 90 with a bullseye, double top combination as he held leads of 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4. World number four Lewis, though, levelled in leg ten and punished four missed doubles from Webster to regain the edge at 6-5, and though the left-hander responded in the 12th leg, he was powerless to prevent his rival racing through the final four legs without reply.

"That was a tough game so I'm happy to get over the winning line in the first round," said Lewis. "For the first 12 legs it was a fantastic match and then Mark came off the boil, and in the last couple of legs he didn't kick in. I can improve probably another 20 percent. I know I've got to play a lot better and I'll just get on with it. Revenge is in the equation and I'll be after him, don't worry about that."

An emotional Webster admitted afterwards that signs of dartitis - which he has battled in recent years - had affected him during the latter stages of the game, but said: "I did okay there and compete with Adrian until the last four legs, but I made him fight. Adrian's a brilliant player, one of the best in the world and he could probably win it. I'm trying to beat the player and beat myself at the same time. It's tough, really hard and I'm struggling. I'm pretty upset about it - I just want my game to hold up. I've done well for eight months but the last two months have been a struggle - but I'll keep going."

Number five seed Peter Wright was a 10-5 winner against youngster Joe Cullen, who took out finishes of 107 and 124 on his first World Matchplay appearance for four years but was unable to prevent the Scot - a semi-finalist 12 months ago - from progressing.

"It was a good game but there's a lot more to come from me," said Wright, who now meets Ian White. "I was nervous but I always am in the first round of major tournament. I've changed things in my throw which didn't go as well as I wanted. I've got a specialist on board. It wasn't a bad performance but I will improve from here." "Joe didn't show the form on stage that he's had recently, he's found the hunger again and he's always been a fantastic player. He's coming back but maybe I'm his bogey player at the moment."
Wright added: "Ian's a fantastic player and I've got loads of respect for him. It's going to be an awesome game."

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