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JAMES WADE 7–7 Kevin Painter

James Wade came back from three legs down twice to seal a draw against Kevin Painter at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

Photo: Lawerence Lustig/PDC

Wade, who hit four maximums, trailed Painter 4-1 and 7-4 but fought back to move onto twelve points in the McCoy’s Premier League, staying in strong contention for a Play-Off place.

‘The Machine’ hit his first 180 on the way to taking the opening leg. Painter held his throw in the second leg and then grabbed an early break with a 120 checkout.

‘The Artist’ made it 3-1 and Wade looked like he had the ideal response, hitting his second maximum, followed by a 140, but Painter produced a superb eleven darter to grab another break of throw.

Wade clinched a crucial break back before the break, going out in twelve darts to reduce the deficit to 4-2. He returned after the interval with his third 180 and went on to hit double 18 to move within a leg of his opponent.

Painter restored his two leg advantage when he took out 68 but ‘The Machine’ bounced back again, taking out 123 brilliantly on the bull.

‘The Artist’ hit double top with his first attempt to win the tenth leg, and then produced a stunning ten darter to move 7-4 ahead.

Needing to win all of the remaining three legs to have any chance of salvaging a draw, Wade hammered home his fourth maximum before finishing on 83 for a break of throw.

‘The Machine’ then held his throw to put the pressure on Painter. The 2009 winner hit back to back 140’s in the final leg, before hitting double top to take a share of the spoils.

By Chris Murphy

Simon Whitlock could seal his place in the McCoy’s Premier League Play-Offs on Thursday, if he can get a positive result against Phil Taylor, in a top of the table clash at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

Photo: Lawerence Lustig/PDC

Whitlock is second in the table with 14 points after claiming three successive victories. If ‘The Wizard’ manages to extend his excellent run of form with a win against Taylor, who has already qualified for the semi-finals, he would guarantee his place at London’s O2 Arena in May.

He said: “I’m not satisfied with my points total just yet. 14 might be enough to make the Play-Offs in the end, but I want another two or four points out of the last three matches.

“It’s going to be very difficult against Phil so if I can get a draw or a win, that would be absolutely brilliant.”

Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade are also hoping to boost their chances of reaching the final four.

Photo: Lawerence Lustig/PDC

‘Barney’ is looking to catapult himself back into the top four when he faces Andy Hamilton. The Dutchman is fifth with ten points, while ‘The Hammer’ must get a result to stay in contention.

Van Barneveld, who was beaten by Whitlock last week, knows he has an important night ahead.

“Last week’s result doesn’t change anything for me,” said ‘Barney’. “Even if I’d won I think I had to win in Liverpool and also another game after that so I’ll try to do my best against Andy.

“Last week wasn’t my night and it was disappointing for me. I didn’t score like I can do and Simon played well, he hit some crucial finishes and I missed too many doubles.”

Wade, who is third in the table, can move onto 13 points if he beats Kevin Painter. ‘The Artist’ needs to avoid defeat to keep his Play-Off hopes alive.

In the night’s other match, Adrian Lewis, who sits in fourth place, takes on reigning champion Gary Anderson, who must win to hang on to any hopes of retaining his title.

By Chris Murphy

Latest League Table

Arron Monk claimed a brilliant double at the weekend, with victories in the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour Event’s one and three at the Moorways centre in Derby.

Photo: Lawerence Lustig/PDC

The 2011 Under-21 World Champion whitewashed both James Hubbard and Michael Smith, who won the second event, in final triumphs on consecutive days.

Monk, who plays Raymond van Barneveld in the inaugural European Tour Event in Austria next weekend, collected over £1000 in prize money for his excellent efforts.

He said: “It’s absolutely brilliant, I’m over the moon. This will be my last year on the Youth Tour and I want to make it count. My aim is to win 14 of the 21 events so this is a great start.”

“Last year was frustrating for me. I had a bad patch and was changing my darts and trying to improve my game, and it just didn’t happen for me on the Youth Tour.

“I’ve been practising for a while now with a different throw, where my darts flick up more in the board instead of laying flat, but I’ve never had the guts to try it in tournaments before this weekend.

“Chris Aubrey persuaded me to try in Derby because we’ve been practising together ahead of this and I’ve been hitting 180s and 140s for fun, so it’s a massive boost for my confidence that it’s worked so well.”

Monk’s route to glory in Saturday’s Event one included victories over Aubrey and Smith before overcoming Hubbard 4-0 in the final with a commanding performance, in which he produced a stunning 150 checkout.

After reaching the last 16 in Event two, Monk returned on Sunday to win Event three, beating Co Stompe Jnr and Jamie Lewis amongst others, before another 4-0 victory in the final.

By Chris Murphy