WADE TO MEASURE
James feels fit for crown after axing King... and slams ‘silly’ Sky pundit
JAMES WADE took aim at TV man Wayne Mardle after sending the King packing to reach the semifinals of the PDC World Darts Championship.
Wade dismissed Mervyn King in five straight sets before attempting to set the record straight about his title credentials which have been played down by Sky Sports’ top pundit.
Mardle, who lost four PDC World Championship semi-finals, has upset 38-year-old multiple major champion Wade by seeming to write him off as a contender to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy tomorrow.
Wade, now himself a four-time Ally Pally semi-finalist but also so far unable to take that next step, said: “People like Wayne Mardle don’t think I’m good enough but I’ve won more than he did.
“I love proving Wayne wrong. I probably won more in two weeks than he did in his entire career. Our careers are not comparable at all.
“He says a few silly things but it’s not just Wayne, most people write me off.”
The left-hander from Aldershot has only dropped one set in his run to his first world semi-final in nine years. He narrowly lost his previous three semis, including a controversial defeat to Adrian Lewis in 2012 dubbed ‘windgate’ when Wade let slip a 5-1 lead to lose 6-5 after agreeing to depart the stage because of a draft.
“Let’s be honest – if I hadn’t been a gentleman, and been like Adrian instead, I would have won that game easily,” Wade recalled.
“If I had stayed on the stage there is no way I would’ve lost to Adrian and there is no way I would have lost to Andy Hamilton in the final.
“But people like Adrian don’t get
in the latter stages anymore, and I do. Look at what I’ve won and then look at what others have won. My record
is clear.
“I go back to Wayne Mardle’s silly remarks. I’ve been here forever and I’ve been a thorn in their sides.”
Mardle took to Twitter to respond and tweeted: “Apparently I live in more players’ heads than I thought!”
Wade also hit out at Arsenal FC after they stopped him getting a New Year’s Eve curry at his north London hotel.
“The Arsenal team were in the hotel so they shut everything down – and it’s bloody annoying,” he added.
“I wanted a curry. But I won and they lost today, which is fantastic.”