James Wade dumps out World No.1 Luke Humphries to complete UK Open semi-final line-up after Minehead thriller
PDC
James Wade is into the semi-finals of the UK Open after dumping out World No.1 Luke Humphries to claim his spot after the latter looked to be the imperious player of the weekend.
Wade who has won the title three times went berserk in the last few legs with six 180's in three legs and when he saw an opportunity to snuff out the Humphries charge he did so. He joins Luke Littler, Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton in the draw shortly.
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After Humphries led early on, Wade pinned a sumptuous 161 checkout on the bull to make it 3-3 and had the throw for a 4-3 lead post the break.
But Wade foolishly threw double five so had to waste a dart going for a pretty simple combination after Humphries missed 80 to break and the latter broke straight back. But Wade again broke for 4-4.
Wade again missed a dart to hold and again Humphries broke. Humphries had two darts at 71 for that point and returned with Wade unable to mop up five and 'Cool Hand Luke' headed into the break with a narrow lead.
Humphries was starting to head towards the finishing line with a 96 checkout to make it 7-5 and he is attempting now to attack the Wade throw to seal the finishing touches.
Wade was given a chance to narrow the gap on 70 and held throw to go 7-6 down. Wade hit a 180 with Humphries not on a finish. He was sat on 88 as he looked to break.
He pinned double 14 for an 11-darter to make it 7-7. Humphries though broke straight back with a 74 checkout to lead 8-7. He only needed two legs. Again though it was a break fest as Wade hit 84 to make it 8-8.
Back-to-back 180's saw Wade leave 41 as he looked to go one away. Humphries then missed 104 for 9-8 and 'The Machine' returned for double 10.
Both hit 180's but Humphries hit 140 to leave 44 on his own throw after nine darts to force a decider. Wade pressured with another 180 but Humphries got first crack and showed no nerves hitting double 16 last dart in hand.
Wade hit two maximums in a leg to leave 45. He pinned it first time after Humphries had hit the same to leave 145 in case he came back.
| James Wade | VS | Luke Humphries |
|---|---|---|
| 100.14 | Average (3 Darts) | 102.08 |
| 26 | 100+ Thrown | 17 |
| 11 | 140+ Thrown | 16 |
| 10 | 180 Thrown | 7 |
| 161 | Highest Checkout | 96 |
| 1 | Checkout 100+ | 0 |
| 50 | Checkout percentage | 37.5 |
| 9 / 18 | Checkout | 9 / 24 |
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