Wayne Mardle

Darts player infobox


playername = Wayne Marvle
No.1 Fan = Olly Hawkins
nickname = Hawaii 5-0-1
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|05|10
cityofbirth = Dagenham
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
hometown = Romford
homecountry = England
since = 1986
darts = 22g Harrows Wayne Mardle
music = Hawaii 5-0 theme
BDO = 1993 to 2002
PDC = since 2002
currentrank = 9
BDO World = Semi-Final 2001
World Masters = Last 16, 2001
World Darts Trophy = Last 32 2002, 2007
Int. Darts League = Last 16 2007
PDC World = Semi-Final 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
Matchplay = Runner-Up 2003
Grand Prix = Quarter-Final 2005
UK Open = Last 16 2004
Vegas = Runner-Up 2004, 2005
Premier League = 5th, 2008
US Open = Last 16 2007
Championship League = Initial groups, 6th place, 2008
tournament = Dutch Open
Denmark Open
Players Ch'ship flagicon|WAL
UK Open Regional Midlands
Vauxhall Open
Peachtree Open
Players Ch'ship Kirchheim
German Darts Trophy
resultyears = 2000
2001
2004
2004
2004, 2006
2007
2007
2007
achievement =
updated = December 29 2007

Wayne Mardle (born in Dagenham, England on May 10 1973) is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford. Before turning professional, he worked for The Association of Accounting Technicians.

He has been known as "Hawaii 501" since 2000, due to the Hawaiian shirts he started wearing in 1998 for a bet, and 501 being the start score of a leg of darts. The name is also a play on the title of the popular TV show, Hawaii 5-0. This dress sense coupled with his crowd-pleasing onstage activity (such as dancing to the interval music) has seen him become one of the most popular players on the circuit.

Darts History

Wayne 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 13th 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 Stompe 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

Wayne joined the Professional Darts Corporation in time for the 2003 World Championship. His first appearance at the Circus Tavern saw him lose in the Second 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.

Wayne has played in every Premier League except for 2007 due to poor form and disappointing results. 2005 and 2006 did not go well, and Wayne 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 Phil Taylor's record of reaching every PDC World Darts Championship final on Saturday 29th December 2007, by defeating him 5 sets to 4 in a quarter-final match. 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.

In January 2008 Mardle was confirmed as the Sky Sports wildcard entry to the 2008 PDC Darts 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 5th in the World Rankings and performed consistently well in the World Championship (reaching the semi-final in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008), he has not yet won a major tournament as a member of the PDC. He has always seemed to suffer from what Sid Waddell calls the "Mardle Drift", which sees his Darts continually land in 5 and Treble 5 instead of the 20/Treble 20. However, this seems to be less of a problem for him currently.

Outside Darts

He married his wife Donna on July 2 2002, who also plays darts, but not at a competitive level.

In 2006, Mardle had a 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 darts player during 2005.

If Wayne wasn't playing darts, he says his profession of choice would be a television presenter, claiming, "I can talk crap like them all".

Wayne is also a keen poker player and recently made the final table at Leg 6 of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour - finishing in 7th place to win £14,100.

External links

* [http://www.waynemardle.com Official Wayne Mardle Site]