James Wade stunning UK Open nine-darter was 'never in doubt'
- Scott Allen
- 6 March 2022
Reigning UK Open champion James Wade threw down a marker to his tournament rivals after a cracking nine-darter in his 10-8 defeat of Boris Krcmar in the sixth round of the 2022 event.
The 38-year-old Wade, who moved up to world number three after Michael van Gerwen lost to Damon Heta in the fifth round, was in a bullish mood after the victory.
"It was never in doubt in my mind, I was never not going to hit that nine-darter," he said.
"Every dart was middle of the bed; when they're going in like that you feel like you can't miss.
"It's nice to be world number three but it's not the be all and end all, we play a lot of darts so the rankings change all the time."
Michael Smith also hit a nine-darter in his last-16 victory over Mensur Suljovic and he will now face Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals. Price threw a 106.66 average whilst taking apart Callan Rydz 10-3, but isn't expecting such an easy ride in the next round.
"It's going to be a tough game against Michael, but I'm playing well and looking forward to it," said Price.
"That's the joy of this tournament, the big names fall and you never know who you could be playing next.
"But it doesn't matter to me who's gone out because I felt confident of going all the way regardless."
