Wade in top form to see off Thornton
Wade averaged 108 in beating Robert Thornton
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Tuesday, 17, Nov 2009 12:28
By Darren Plant.
James Wade lit up the Grand Slam of Darts with a scintillating display to see off Robert Thornton.
Thornton raced into a 3-0 lead and came close to a nine dart leg but he missed treble 19 after seven perfect darts.
However, ‘The Machine’ hit back with a performance that was in sharp contrast to the 79 average he had delivered in his opening win over Gary Mawson.
Two 180’s helped see him pull back to 3-2, before levelling the match at 3-3.
Thornton missed attempts at a double to move back in front, and Wade benefited to take the lead, and hit an 88 checkout to win the match.
Afterwards, Wade said: "I knew I was playing well, even when I was 3-0 down. Robert missed his chance to go ahead at 3-3 and I took my chance."
Despite the win, Wade must still beat Andy Hamilton on Wednesday to guarantee qualification after ‘The Hammer’ beat Gary Mawson 5-2.
A scrappy opening saw Mawson take a 2-0 lead as Hamilton struggled to find the treble, but he won five successive legs to keep himself in contention to qualify from the group.
The eagerly anticipated match between Ted Hankey and Wayne Mardle saw Hankey edge the match 5-4.
Mardle took the opening leg after nine missed doubles from ‘The Count’ but Hankey hit back to lead 2-1.
A 17 dart leg saw Mardle level, but two missed darts in the fifth saw Hankey regain the lead, and then produce a 14 dart leg to move one away from victory.
Hankey missed four match darts as Mardle pulled back to 4-4, but Hankey produced an impressive final leg to win the match.
Simon Whitlock’s dramatic 5-4 win over Scott Waites leave the group wide open, with all four players still in with a shout of qualifying for the knockout stage.
Whitlock is a probable qualifier, but despite losing both his games, Mardle can still qualify if he beats Scott Waites 5-2 or better, and Whitlock can see off Hankey by a similar margin.
It looked like Whitlock was heading to defeat at the hands of Waites after falling 4-2 behind.
However, a pair of 14 dart legs brought him level, and a spectacular 142 checkout saw him capitalise on one missed double from Waites to win the match.
Gary Anderson qualified for the last 16 with a 5-2 win over Steve Beaton.
Beaton took the opening leg, but ‘The Flying Scotsman hit 15, 16 and 14 dart legs to lead 3-1 at the break.
Beaton held throw to reduce the deficit but a 180 in the sixth leg left Anderson one away from victory, and he wrapped up the win with a 17 dart leg.
The opening match of the evening had saw Kevin McDine win 5-4 in a thriller with Dutchman Co Stompe, where each leg went with throw.
The game sprang to life at 2-2, when McDine hit a 170 checkout for the fifth leg, only for Stompe to hit six perfect darts on the way to an 11 dart leg to level.
In the decider, Stompe missed one dart to win the match, before McDine nailed his double to bag his first win, and send Stompe out the tournament, despite averaging over 100.
Denis Ovens bagged a Grand Slam double over Adrian Lewis, coming from behind to win 5-3.
Ovens beat Lewis in the group stages last year, but it looked like Lewis was out to avenge that defeat after taking a 2-0 lead.
The solid if unspectacular Ovens brought the game back to 3-3, and produced checkouts of 106 and 120 in hitting two 15 dart legs for the match.
Ovens will now play Darin Young in a deciding match on Wednesday, after the American was ousted by Terry Jenkins.
Jenkins failed to produce the 103 average from his first match, but he had just enough to beat Young 5-3.