James Wade kept his chances of qualifying for the Unibet European Championship alive after booking his place in the HappyBet European Darts Trophy – the last event on this year’s European Tour – last night.
The world number 10 has played in all nine European Championships to be held so far, but heading into last night’s UK Qualifier for the 12th European Tour event he found himself outside of the top 32 qualifying places.
But Wade, a guest on this week’s Weekly Dartscast podcast, squeezed through two deciding legs to secure his spot in Gottingen, as he headlined a list of 18 qualifiers at the end of play in Dublin.
Wade battled past Wayne Jones, this year’s Unicorn Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner, with a 6-5 victory in his opener, and then edged out South Africa’s Devon Petersen by the same scoreline in the final round.
Former European Championship winner Adrian Lewis, who missed the event last year, will also miss out on playing in Hasselt for a second year running after losing in the UK Qualifier last night.
The world number five, who beat Simon Whitlock 11-6 in the 2013 final, lost 6-2 to Chris Quantock in the first round which means he can no longer qualify for the European Championship, joining fellow former world champions Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in being out of the field in Hasselt.
HappyBet European Darts Trophy UK Qualifier
Preliminary Round
Warrick Scheffer 6-4 Darren Johnson
Terry Temple 6-4 Aden Kirk
Richie Burnett 6-2 Tony Newell
Peter Jacques 6-4 Harry Robinson
Paul Nicholson 6-2 Robert Owen
Lee Bryant 6-2 Richie Corner
Craig Gilchrist 6-4 Brendan Dolan
John Norman Jnr 6-2 Wes Newton
First Round
Steve Beaton 6-1 Ryan Meikle
Andy Boulton 6-3 Dean Forde
Keegan Brown 6-4 Kyle Anderson
William O’Connor 6-5 Jamie Bain
Darren Webster 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Mick Todd 6-4 Brian Woods
Stephen Bunting 6-3 Peter Hudson
Callum Loose 6-2 Joe Murnan
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 John Henderson
Jonathan Worsley 6-5 Ross Twell
James Wade 6-5 Wayne Jones
Devon Petersen 6-4 Callan Rydz
Chris Quantock 6-2 Adrian Lewis
Mick McGowan 6-3 Steve Hine
Steve West 6-0 David Pallett
Diogo Portela 6-2 Jim Walker
Justin Pipe 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Jamie Caven 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Robert Thornton 6-2 Stephen Burton
Ryan Searle 6-2 John Part
Richard North 6-0 Ritchie Edhouse
Ricky Evans 6-4 Darren Johnson
Chris Dobey 6-3 Paul Harvey
Terry Temple 6-4 Ted Evetts
James Wilson 6-1 Kirk Shepherd
Richie Burnett 6-3 Mark Walsh
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Scott Taylor
Peter Jacques 6-3 Matt Clark
John Bowles 6-3 Mark Webster
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Paul Nicholson
Kevin Painter 6-5 Ryan Palmer
Steve Lennon 6-1 Lee Bryant
James Richardson 6-2 Simon Stevenson
Josh Payne 6-3 Craig Gilchrist
Jamie Lewis 6-2 Andy Jenkins
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 John Norman Jnr
Final Round
Andy Boulton 6-4 Steve Beaton
Keegan Brown 6-3 William O’Connor
Mick Todd 6-5 Darren Webster
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Callum Loose
Jonathan Worlsey 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 6-5 Devon Petersen
Chris Quantock 6-2 Mick McGowan
Steve West 6-4 Diogo Portela
Jamie Caven 6-4 Justin Pipe
Robert Thornton 6-2 Ryan Searle
Ricky Evans 6-4 Richard North
Chris Dobey 6-1 Terry Temple
James Wilson 6-1 Richie Burnett
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Peter Jacques
John Bowles 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Kevin Painter 6-4 Steve Lennon
James Richardson 6-4 Josh Payne
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Jamie Lewis
lovethedartsmag.com 