JAMES WADE reached his second successive Stan James World Matchplay final with a stunning 17-7 win over Adrian Lewis.
Wade produced one of the best ever displays of finishing to see off the world number seven in some style, checking out almost 70 percent of his finishing and hitting four ton-plus checkouts.
Lewis matched Wade in averaging over 101, but was left sat on a finish in almost every leg as his opponent pinned his doubles.
Wade took eight successive legs to win the match, and book his place in a second major final - following last year's 18-11 loss to Phil Taylor in the Winter Gardens decider.
"I knew I had to turn up today and I did that in style," said Wade. "I love this event and I've done the hard work to get to the final, now I can enjoy it."
Lewis kicked off the match with an 11-darter, only for Wade to match that in the second, and hit a 180 on his way to breaking the throw in the third.
Wade then took four of the next five to create a 6-2 cushion, only for back-to-back 14-darters from Lewis to halve the deficit.
Wade's explosive finishing stepped up in the next two legs, taking out 76 and then a stunning 144 with Lewis sat on a double.
A 126 finish for a 12-darter and then a 14-dart leg from Lewis pulled him back to 8-6, but Wade took out 106 to go into the next break with a three-leg lead.
Lewis returned with a 12-darter, taking out 81 on the bullseye, but could do nothing as Wade zoned in on the doubles.
He reeled off eight straight legs - with Lewis sat on a finish in seven - and added further finishes of 107, 98, 97 and 96 to book his place in the final.
"His finishing was absolutely superb - what a performance," said Lewis.
"You've got to take your hat off to James, he played brilliant and every time I left a double he'd check out.
"If I'm honest, I played my final against Raymond and it took a lot out of me. I probably played better in this game but you have to hand it to James - what a player!"
Adrian Lewis |
7-17 |
James Wade |
30 |
100+ |
36 |
21 |
140+ |
16 |
5 |
180 |
6 |
33.75 |
Ave1 |
33.97 |
101.26 |
Ave3 |
101.90 |
126 |
High Finish |
144, 132, 107, 106 |