James Wade stays cool to land Grand Prix title
Love him or hate him, you have to admit, James Wade has developed into a world-class darts player.
His awkward, nerdy type of demeanour in televised interviews make him an easy target for heckles from the crowds but it was his performance in the bodog.com World Grand Prix in Dublin that did the talking over the weekend – demolishing Adrian Lewis 6-3 in the final.
The competitive final, however, was overshadowed by controversy, something which unfortunately plagued the event throughout.
Lewis and Wade aren’t exactly best of friends within the professional darts scene, and their rivalry was stepped up another notch because of an incident that involved Wade, according to Lewis, stamping his foot on the floor while the Yorkshireman had an important shot at a double.
Lewis told Sky Sports: "There was a movement on stage when I was throwing. Wadey said it wasn't him but I saw his foot."
Wade was quick to deny the claims post-match, and tended to concentrate on the performance which landed him with his fifth major title of his career.
Wade responded: "I'm gobsmacked. I'm not going to go into it. Anyone can watch any replay and watch my feet - they did not move. Am I as good at scoring as him? No. Am I as good at finishing? Yes - and I think that's what won me the game."
This wasn’t the first controversial episode that occurred during the highly charged tournament – in the semi-finals there were several cases of crowd booing during important shots, which caused both Wade and Phil Taylor, who was surprisingly beaten by Lewis, to vent their frustration at the actions of the raucous spectators during the game and in the interviews after the game.
But despite all the controversy, Wade stood strong and has now put himself to No.2 in the world rankings.
However he still is nearly £1million behind Taylor in earnings this season, but by showing the mental strength in overcoming many obstacles this week, Wade now looks the most likely to knock Taylor of his perch in the next few years.
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