Wade comes through second round nail biter against King
Published:James Wade admitted a touch of complacency nearly cost him a place in the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals.
Wade defeated Mervyn King in a dramatic 10-9 victory last night, and now faces Terry Jenkins – who beat Tony O’Shea 10-7 in their second round game – in the quarter-finals.
In the final game of the evening, King raced to a 2-0 lead before Wade pulled him back and eventually went 3-2 in front. They traded legs from then on in and King managed to get himself into a position where he had two darts to win the contest 10-8.
Wade – who is second favourite for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship next month – levelled though, and King then went on to miss another dart for a win in the 19th game of an absorbing contest.
Wade made no mistake with his chance and hit double ten for a hard fought victory.
The world No.2 said: “It was a really tight match and I’m just so happy to get the win. I was nervous but I also found myself too relaxed in the middle of the game and put myself in a tough position.
“I got out of it though and will look forward to playing Terry on Saturday.”
Jenkins was the man who ended Wade’s Grand Slam hopes last year. The 2008 finalist came through 10-9 in a tight and tense last 16 game to send Wade packing and book himself a place in the last four.
Wade has been able to exact some revenge since then, winning each of their last four encounters, including a comfortable 6-3 win in the Championship League Darts in September. However, a victory on Saturday night though would trump them all.
Wade is now at 13/2 in the darts betting to win the competition outright, while Jenkins is further out at 20/1.
Could Wade win his first Grand Slam of Darts title? Click here for the full darts betting market.
