Wayne Mardle

Wayne Elliot Mardle (born 10 May 1973) is an English former professional darts player who played in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and British Darts Organisation (BDO). He currently works as a pundit and commentator.

Wayne Mardle
Mardle in 2016
Personal information
Full nameWayne Elliot Mardle[1]
Nickname"Hawaii 501"
Born (1973-05-10) 10 May 1973
Dagenham, London, England
Home townRomford, London, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1986
Darts22g Legend Darts Wayne Mardle
LateralityRight-handed
Walk-on music"Hawaii Five-O" by The Ventures
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO1993–2002
PDC2002–2012
BDO majors – best performances
World Ch'shipSemi-Final: 2001
World MastersLast 16: 2001
World Darts TrophyLast 32: 2002, 2007
Finder MastersQuarter Final: 2000
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'shipSemi-Final: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
World MatchplayRunner-Up: 2003
World Grand PrixQuarter Final: 2005
Grand SlamGroup Stages: 2007, 2008, 2009
Premier League5th: 2008
Desert ClassicRunner Up: 2004, 2005
European Ch'shipLast 16: 2008
UK OpenLast 16: 2004
Players Ch'ship FinalsLast 16: 2009
Other tournament wins
Atlanta Players Championship 2007
British Teenage Open 1989
Denmark Open 2001
Dutch Open 2000
Vauxhall Autumn Open 2002
Vauxhall Autumn Pro 2002, 2003
Vauxhall Spring Open 2004, 2006

Players Championships

Players Championship (KIR) 2007
Players Championship (WAL) 2004

UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers

UK Open Regional (MID) 2004
Updated on 17 February 2008.

He has been known as "Hawaii 501" since 2000, a play on the title of the popular television series Hawaii Five-O, due to the Hawaiian shirts he started wearing in 1998 for a bet, and 501 being the start score of a leg of darts. This dress sense coupled with his crowd-pleasing onstage activity (such as dancing to the interval music) saw him become one of the most popular players on the circuit.

Early life and career

Mardle was born in Dagenham, East London, England.[1] He started playing darts at the age of 11, when he practised with his dad. His first 180 came two weeks after he started playing. He soon became better than his dad, and his first competition win was in a pub called the 'Double Top' on his thirteenth birthday in 1986.

His Lakeside debut came in 2000, where he lost to Matt Clark in the first round. In 2001, he reached the semi-finals, beating Co Stompé and Ronnie Baxter before losing to eventual winner John Walton. His attempt in 2002 saw him fall in the last eight to Colin Monk.

PDC career

Mardle joined the Professional Darts Corporation in time for the 2003 World Championship. His first appearance at the Circus Tavern saw him lose in the third round to Phil Taylor. His debut at Blackpool's Winter Gardens in the World Matchplay was much better, beating World Champion John Part, Alan Warriner and Colin Lloyd to reach the final, where he again lost to Taylor.

Mardle had until 2010, played in every Premier League except for 2007 due to poor form and disappointing results. 2005 and 2006 did not go well, and he finished bottom of the table in both years. (Players who come bottom of the League are said to have won the "Mardle Cup," named in honour of him).

Despite a poor 2006 and 2007, he found his form at the 2008 World Championship, ending Taylor's record of reaching every PDC World Darts Championship final on 29 December 2007 by defeating him 5 sets to 4 in a quarter-final match having trailed 3–0. Following his victory, he showed great emotion at finally defeating "The Power" on TV. Mardle was then beaten in the semi-finals for the fourth time in his PDC career by 21-year-old qualifier Kirk Shepherd. He later said this was the worst defeat of his career, citing his own attitude as "disgusting".

In January 2008 Mardle was confirmed as the Sky Sports wildcard entry to the 2008 Premier League following his impressive performance at the World Championships. Whilst this decision was questioned by some, Mardle proved the doubters wrong with a steady campaign which saw him finish in fifth place, missing out on the Play-Offs by just two legs to Adrian Lewis.

Whilst he has reached fifth in the World Rankings and performed consistently well in the World Championship (reaching the semi-final in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008), he never won a major tournament as a member of the PDC. He has always seemed to suffer from what Sid Waddell called the "Mardle Drift", which sees his Darts continually land in 5 and Treble 5 instead of the 20/Treble 20.

Mardle suffered hard luck during the 2009 Premier League. After amassing just four points from his opening nine games, he missed week ten due to a virus.[2] He had been due to return the following week, but was rushed into hospital the day before the matches due to mumps.[3] With five matches to play in the final three weeks, one more missed week would eliminate Mardle from the competition. Sadly for Mardle, that occurred. Having been passed fit for a week twelve return,[4] Mardle was re-admitted to hospital, and in accordance with tournament regulations, was removed from the tournament. His results from the tournament were also annulled.[5]

Mardle's poor form continued in the 2010 PDC World Championship, where he lost to Jyhan Artut 3–0 with a poor average of 72. Mardle continued to drop out the rankings and was ranked as low as 85th in the Order of Merit.

Mardle also attempted to qualify for the 2012 PDC World Championship via the PDPA qualifier which was held in Wigan and was whitewashed 5–0 in the Preliminary Round by Ken Dobson.

Mardle's slide down the world rankings meant he was no longer assured of a PDC tour card to play on the Pro Tour, and had to enter the Q School to try and earn one. However, on the eve of the first Q School qualifier, Mardle announced on his Twitter page that he had decided not to go to Q School and instead focus on commentating for Sky Sports and playing in exhibitions.

Commentary

Mardle made his commentating debut for the PDC at the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, working alongside Sid Waddell in a few matches. He also co-presented some of the event with Dave Clark and predicting some of the match results with Rod Harrington and Eric Bristow. Mardle continued his analyzing and commentary career at the 2011 Premier League Darts apart from weeks 3, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 14.

He continued his commentary career in the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, where he co-commentated on every night of the televised event. He has since become a regular on all Sky televised tournaments both as a commentator during matches and as the main pundit in the studio portions of the show. During the World Championships Mardle also has regular segments where he rewards crowd participation, either dancing, fancy dress outfits or funny signs, with a "Wayne's World" T-shirt.

Alongside his successful darts career, away from the oche Mardle has been a keen advocate for the support of players suffering from Dartitis. In 2013, Mardle spoke about former 5 Time World Champion Eric Bristow and outlined that Dartitis was "the fear of throwing the dart" and emphasised how it "must've been awful" for Bristow. It is this support that has earned Mardle plaudits from many within the darting circle for his well articulated support and awareness on the subject.

In 2017, Mardle threw his considerable support behind upcoming youngster Berry van Peer following a severe case of Dartitis during the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Despite this set back Mardle has outlined that Van Peer has "bounce back-ability" and has the potential to be a "future World Champion".

Personal life

In 2006, Mardle had a darts book published (co-authored with Ian Spragg) entitled Hawaii 501 – Life as a Darts Pro. It chronicles the ups and downs of his life as a professional player during 2005.

Mardle supports the football team Tottenham Hotspur and appeared in the May 2009 edition of Hotspur, the football club's official club magazine.[6]

World Championship results

BDO

PDC

  • 2003: 3rd round (lost to Phil Taylor 3–5)
  • 2004: Semi-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 2–6)
  • 2005: Semi-finals (lost to Mark Dudbridge 4–6)
  • 2006: Semi-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 5–6)
  • 2007: 1st round (lost to Alan Caves 2–3)
  • 2008: Semi-finals (lost to Kirk Shepherd 4–6)
  • 2009: 3rd round (lost to Co Stompé 0–4)
  • 2010: 1st round (lost to Jyhan Artut 0–3)

Career finals

PDC major finals: 3 (3 runners-up)

Legend
World Matchplay (0–1)
Las Vegas Desert Classic (0–2)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2003 World Matchplay Phil Taylor 12–18 (l)
Runner-up 2. 2004 Las Vegas Desert Classic Phil Taylor 4–6 (s)
Runner-up 2. 2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic Phil Taylor 1–6 (s)

Performance timeline

Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011
BDO World Championship L32 SF QF No longer a BDO Member
Winmau World Masters DNP L16 DNP
World Darts Trophy NH DNP L32 Not held
International Darts League NH DNP RR Not held
PDC World Championship DNP L16 SF SF SF L64 SF L16 L64 DNQ
World Matchplay DNP RU L32 QF QF L16 SF L16 DNQ
World Grand Prix DNP L16 L32 QF L16 L16 L16 L32 DNQ
Las Vegas Desert Classic NH QF RR RU RU L32 L16 L32 L32 NH
UK Open NH L32 L16 L64 L32 L64 L64 L64 L64 L96
Premier League Darts Not held 7th 7th DNP 5th RR DNP
WSoD/US Open Not held QF L16 L16 L32 L128 NH
Grand Slam of Darts Not held RR RR RR DNQ
European Championship Not held L16 DNP
Masters of Darts Not held RR NH RR Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals RU lost in the final W won the tournament

References

  1. "Dart Profis - Wayne Mardle - "Hawaii 501"". Dartn.de (in German). Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. "Mardle Forced To Miss Exeter". Professional Darts Corporation. 7 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  3. "Mardle Taken To Hospital". PDC. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  4. "Mardle To Make Comeback". Professional Darts Corporation. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  5. "PDC Statement: Wayne Mardle". Professional Darts Corporation. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  6. Hotspur (Official Tottenham Hotspur club magazine), May 2009
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