Wayne Mardle

Last updated

Wayne Mardle
2022-06-13 Play-offs (2022 Premier League Darts) by Sandro Halank-056.jpg
Mardle in 2022
Personal information
Full nameWayne William Mardle [1]
Nickname"Hawaii 501"
Born (1973-05-10) 10 May 1973 (age 51)
Tottenham, London, England
Home town Romford, London, England
Darts information
Playing darts since1986
Darts22g Legend Darts Wayne Mardle
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music"Hawaii Five-O Theme" by The Ventures
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1993–2002
PDC 2002–2011
WDF major events – best performances
World Ch'ship Semi Final: 2001
World Masters Last 16: 2001
World Trophy Last 32: 2002, 2007
Finder Masters Quarter Final: 2000
PDC premier events – best performances
World Ch'ship Semi Final: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
World Matchplay Runner-Up: 2003
World Grand Prix Quarter Final: 2005
UK Open Last 16: 2004
Grand Slam Group Stages: 2007, 2008, 2009
European Ch'ship Last 16: 2008
Premier League 5th: 2008
Desert Classic Runner Up: 2004, 2005
PC Finals Last 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.

Wayne William 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 was runner-up in three PDC majors, losing to Phil Taylor on each occasion. He was also a five-time world semi-finalist. He currently works as a pundit and commentator.

Contents

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 Tottenham, North London, England. [2] 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. From 2004 to 2006, Mardle reached three consecutive world championship semi-finals, losing to Taylor in 2004 and 2006, and Mark Dudbridge in 2005. He peaked at fifth in the World Rankings. 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 played in the first two editions of the Premier League, in 2005 and 2006, 2008 and 2009. 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. Poor form meant he was not selected in 2007.

In 2007, Mardle was beaten in the opening round of the World Championship by unseeded Alan Caves, [3] and subsequently failed to reach the latter stages of a single event that year. He found his form at the 2008 World Championship, and in a big upset he beat then-13-time champion Phil Taylor 5–4 in the quarter-finals, a match in which he had trailed 3–0. This was the first time in the history of the PDC championship that Taylor had been beaten before the final. After his win over Taylor, Mardle was made bookmakers' favourite to win the tournament, especially as his semi-final opponent was 21-year-old qualifier Kirk Shepherd, ranked 142nd. However, an over-confident Mardle lost the match 6–4. Mardle later described his attitude going into the match as "nonchalant" and stated that he did not give Shepherd the respect he deserved. [4]

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. He reached the semi-finals of the 2008 World Matchplay, losing 17–5 to James Wade. [5]

At the 2009 Premier League, Mardle amassed only four points from his opening nine games, then missed week ten due to a virus. [6] He had been due to return the following week, but was rushed into hospital the day before the matches due to mumps. [7] With five matches to play in the final three weeks, one more missed week would eliminate Mardle from the competition. Having been passed fit for a week twelve return, [8] 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. [9] Mardle later stated that his form never recovered after his six-month absence due to mumps. [10]

Mardle made his final World Championship appearance in 2010, losing 3–0 to Jyhan Artut in the first round, averaging only 72. [11] Mardle continued to drop out the rankings and was ranked as low as 85th in the Order of Merit.[ when? ]

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. [12]

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.

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. [13]

On 15 December 2024, shortly before the start of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, it was announced that his wife Donna had died earlier in the week. [14]

World Championship results

BDO

PDC

Career finals

PDC major finals: 3 (3 runners-up)

Legend
World Matchplay (0–1)
Las Vegas Desert Classic (0–2)
OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponent in the finalScore
Runner-up1. 2003 World Matchplay Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor12–18 (l)
Runner-up2. 2004 Las Vegas Desert Classic Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor4–6 (s)
Runner-up2. 2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic Flag of England.svg Phil Taylor1–6 (s)

Performance timeline

Tournament200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011
BDO World Championship 1R SF QF No longer a BDO Member
Winmau World Masters DNP L16 DNP
World Darts Trophy NHDNP 1R Not held
International Darts League NHDNP RR Not held
PDC World Championship DNP 3R SF SF SF 1R SF 3R 1R DNQ
Premier League Darts Not held 7th 7th DNP 5th RR DNP
Las Vegas Desert Classic NH QF RR RU RU 1R 2R 1R 1R NH
WSoD/US Open Not held QF 5R 4R NH
UK Open NH 4R 5R 3R 4R 3R 3R 3R 3R 2R
World Matchplay DNP RU 1R QF QF 2R SF 2R DNQ
World Grand Prix DNP 2R 1R QF 2R 2R 2R 1R DNQ
Grand Slam of Darts Not held RR RR RR DNQ
European Championship Not held 2R DNQ
Masters of Darts Not held RR NH RR Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNPDid not play at the eventDNQDid not qualify for the eventNYFNot yet foundedL#lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QFlost in the quarter-finalsSFlost in the semi-finalsRUlost in the finalWwon the tournament

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References

  1. ↑ "Dart Profis - Wayne Mardle - "Hawaii 501"". Dartn.de (in German). Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Mardle stunned by Caves victory
  4. ↑ The One That Got Away: Wayne Mardle reflects on his 2008 World Championship heartbreak against Kirk Shepherd
  5. ↑ "Stan James World Matchplay Semifinals". pdc.tv. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Mardle Forced To Miss Exeter". Professional Darts Corporation. 7 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Mardle Taken To Hospital". PDC. 16 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Mardle To Make Comeback". Professional Darts Corporation. 20 April 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  9. ↑ "PDC Statement: Wayne Mardle". Professional Darts Corporation. 22 April 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
  10. ↑ "Wayne Mardle: 'I wanted to be a clown. No one wants that any more'". The Guardian. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  11. ↑ "World Championship Day One". pdc.tv. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. ↑ "Wayne Mardle: 'I wanted to be a clown. No one wants that any more'". Guardian. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Hotspur (Official Tottenham Hotspur club magazine), May 2009
  14. ↑ "Wayne Mardle misses Sky's World Darts Championship coverage after wife's death". 15 December 2024.
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