Mr Matchplay himself, James Wade, kicked off his 20th consecutive World Matchplay campaign with a commanding and comprehensive 10-3 victory over Joe Cullen. Oh, and just for good measure, he posted his highest-ever average on the Winter Gardens stage – a mere 104.44.
To be fair to Cullen, he played very well – his stats reflect that. Unfortunately for the Yorkshireman, he was restricted to very few shots at the outer ring – just four to be exact. Longevity is a word often associated with the left-hander – still collecting titles and flying high in the PDC rankings two decades after winning his maiden major.
That, of course, was the very tournament he’s now chasing again – and on this evidence, you’d be foolish to write him off.Yet despite the emphatic win, it was a frustrated Wade who reflected on being repeatedly overlooked in favour of lower-ranked players and missing out on opportunities he feels he deserves:
“Maybe if I played the game and said the right things, I would have been invited to more World Series. I’d love to travel the world with the family – in the past, I’ve always put the PDC first, but now it’s my family. So when they asked me recently about going to Australia, I turned it down because we’ve got a holiday planned to Disneyland.”
Clearly anxed by being the last puppy in the litter, frustrations extended to us lot in the press room:
“Would any of you feel frustrated if you weren’t celebrated as much?”
Despite an astonishing run in this prestigious tournament – one he considers his favourite – Wade isn’t getting the recognition he believes he’s earned:
“Even the bookies had me at 66-1,” added Wadey, with a sort of baffled grievance.
But if the Aldershot man keeps producing displays like this, those odds might start to look very silly indeed.
—–Ends—-
Images:T Lanning / PDC
