James Wade beats Mervyn King to win Masters in Edinburgh

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James WadeImage source, Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Image caption,

James Wade claimed his first major televised PDC title for more than three years

James Wade produced a remarkable comeback against Mervyn King to win a first Masters title in Edinburgh.

Wade trailed 5-0 and 9-2 in the best-of-21-legs final but took nine of the last 10 legs and secured an 11-10 win with a 135 checkout in the decider.

"I didn't deserve to win and I feel a bit guilty, but somehow I did it," said the 31-year-old from Aldershot.

King, 48, missed eight darts to win the match and his wait for a major televised title in the PDC continues.

The top two players in the world rankings, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor, lost to King and Wade respectively in high-quality semi-final matches at The Masters, an event contested by the top 16 players in the PDC world rankings.

Taylor's shoe issues

Phil Taylor forgot to pack an important item for the tournament in Edinburgh - his shoes. The 16-times world champion borrowed a pair from PDC media officer Dave Allen for his first-round match against Wes Newton on Saturday and posted a three-dart average of more than 110 in a 10-4 win.

Ipswich-born King, who is now based in Norfolk, continued the form from his last-four win over world champion Van Gerwen and looked set for a comfortable victory until Wade's incredible fightback.

"I've never won a game of darts like that in my life, but I took my chances," continued Wade, who clinched his first televised major since the 2011 UK Open.

"I'm stubborn and I believe I'm the only person that could have won that game from that position at the moment.

"In the last six or seven months I've been doing a lot of harm and hurting a lot of players, and I wouldn't want to play me at the moment."

King added: "I had my chance and didn't take it, and James did so fair play to him. James stuck in there and was the better player on the day, and he deserved to win.

"I've had a great weekend and I've done exceptionally well to reach the final, but I'll be back and hopefully I can take the chance next time it comes."

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