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JAMES WADE  17 – 15 Terry Jenkins

James Wade secured his fifth final appearance in seven visits to Blackpool’s Winter Gardens with a well earned victory over Terry Jenkins in the semi-finals of the Betfair World Matchplay on Saturday night.

Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC

‘The Machine’, who won the tournament in 2007, fired in no less than six three figure checkouts as he dumped out the man that he beat in the final five years ago.

“The Bull” played his part in a real battle in Blackpool but it was Wade who continued his love affair with the prestigious tournament.

“Terry was amazing,” said Wade, who also reached the final in 2006, 2008 & 2011.

“He probably should have won that game but I managed to dig in and get a result.

“The crowd were on his side which made it harder and a lot of the big shots I took out were born out of desperation really.

“I couldn’t get settled tonight and I struggled to concentrate at times but that won’t happen tomorrow.

“I have been putting in the practise and hopefully that will pay off in the final.”

Wade hit four 180’s in the first session but was only rewarded with a solitary leg to his name, with Jenkins going into the break with a 4-1 lead.

‘The Machine’ halved the deficit before Jenkins restored it, but Wade pulled it back to 5-3 with a stunning 164 checkout.

‘The Bull’ made it 6-3 before world number three Wade reeled off six consecutive legs, which included clinical checkouts of 103, 107 & 127.

Jenkins then hit back, taking five legs in a row to go 11-9 in front before ‘The Machine’ produced a sublime 130 checkout to spark another run of consecutive legs, this time taking a quick-fire four, with a sensational 144 finish in amongst the game shots.

Jenkins took the next two to restore parity at 13 apiece before Wade split 26 and then hit double top to move two legs clear.

‘The Bull’ wasn’t finished though and won the next two to leave the match finely poised at 15 all.

But Wade grabbed a crucial break of throw before getting the job done on double six, to move into Sunday evening’s £100,000 final, where he meets Phil Taylor.

By Chris Murphy

See some of the world’s top darts players in action at The Untouchables,Eastbourne on Friday 19 October.