WADE: I’LL TURN BACK CLOCK TO MY GLORY DAYS
JAMES WADE used to tune up for the play-offs by changing spark plugs as a car mechanic, but he won’t get any bees under his bonnet against Rob Cross tonight.
‘The Machine’, 36, will turn the clock back to a golden age, where he won the Premier League darts crown and nearly defended his title the following year.
Back in 2009, he turned the walkway towards Wembley Arena into his own boulevard, Wembley Wade, by defeating Mervyn King in the Premier League play-offs final.
And 12 months later, he was pipped 10-8 to the sport’s second-richest prize by Phil Taylor, on an astonishing night when ‘The Power’ unfurled TWO perfect nine-dart legs.
Although Wade, a nine-time winner of TV majors on the PDC circuit, has since battled bipolar disorder, his form has regained consistency in 2019. The World No.9, who lost only three of his 16 games in the league SEMI-FINALS (Best of 19 legs)
7.15pm: Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney 8.15pm: Rob Cross v James Wade
FINAL (Best of 21 legs)
9.15pm: Van Gerwen/Gurney v Cross/Wade
format, faces Cross in the semi-finals and said: “It’s a long time (2013) since I’ve been in the play-offs, and an even longer time since I won them, but I won’t let the pressure get to me.
“I expect to reach the final, but it would be so nice to win it and bridge that 10-year gap since the last time.
“I’m happy to be in the play-offs, I’m happy with how the season’s gone, and I feel like I’m part of the tournament again.
“There may be better players than me, and more flamboyant players, but I know what I’m capable of doing and I’m turning up at the O2 just to be written off.”
Reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen is 4-7 favourite to win a fifth Premier League crown with title sponsors Unibet, but ‘Clog Almighty’ must first overcome ‘Superchin’ Daryl Gurney, who completed the double over the Dutchman earlier in the tournament.
The pair meet in the first semi-final and MVG said: “Daryl played really well the last two times we met in this competition, but this time the pressure will be on his shoulders.
“We’ve been playing for 16 weeks, but now it’s a knockout – all or nothing. I like to be the favourite because it means I have been playing well, but I must be sharp and make sure I don’t make any mistakes.”