RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD defeated James Wade 6-4 to reach his second Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship final in three years at Alexandra Palace.
Wade put in his best performance of the tournament so far and should have led the match 3-1.
But he wasted opportunities to take the fourth set and that proved to be a decisive moment as van Barneveld went on to be victorious and will now play either Phil Taylor or Mervyn King.
Wade made a superb start to the match, hitting a maximum with his first three darts, and going on to break throw with a 13-dart finish.
van Barneveld immediately hit-back with a 121 checkout, but the Englishman won the third leg against the dart by landing double top.
But van Barneveld produced superb darts to win the next two legs. He won the fourth leg with an 11-dart finish, and won the fifth with a two dart 64 finish to take an early lead.
Wade won the opening leg of the second set, before hitting a fabulous 11 darter to go 2-0 ahead in the set.
Both players hit maximums in the third leg, but it was Wade who hit double top to square the game at 1-1.
van Barneveld opened up a 1-0 lead in set three before Wade hit back-to-back maximums in a 12-dart finish to take the second leg.
The world number three then went on to win the next two legs, landing double ten on both occasions to win the set and go ahead for the first time in the match.
van Barneveld broke throw with a clinical two dart 93 finish at the start of the fourth set, but missed a dart at double sixteen to double his advantage and Wade stepped in to win the second leg.
Wade went 2-1 ahead with a 14-dart finish before van Barneveld hit his sixth maximum of the match in the fourth leg and went on to win by landing double eight.
In the deciding leg Wade missed four darts to win the set and go 3-1 ahead - busting his score on two occasions. Those mistakes proved costly as van Barneveld hit double nine to level the game once again.
Wade won the opening leg of the fifth set before the Dutchman hit two 14-dart finishes in succession to take a 2-1 lead.
But van Barneveld missed two darts at double 18 to win the set in the fourth leg and Wade won that and then broke his opponent's throw with an excellent 15-dart finish to lead for the second time in the game at 3-2.
The opening two legs of the sixth set where shared before van Barneveld broke throw in the third leg with an excellent 112 checkout, despite Wade hitting his thirteenth maximum.
The Dutchman then hit double 18 in the fourth leg to win the set and square the game at three apiece.
van Barneveld then won the seventh set in quick time, taking it three legs to nil and go ahead for the first time since the opening set.
He broke in the second leg, hitting double 16 to go 2-0 ahead and then wrapped up the set with a 92 finish, hitting double 16 once again to win the set.
After conceding the previous six legs the Englishman managed to win the opening leg of the eighth set after van Barneveld was off-target with a dart at double top.
Wade then broke the Dutchman's throw with an 82 finish in the second leg, and followed that up with by hitting double eight in the next to win the set and level the game at 4-4.
But van Barneveld went on to take the ninth set to go within touching distance of victory.
He hit a 15-dart finish in the second leg to go 2-0 ahead, and then landed double 16 in
third to win the set without reply from his opponent.
At the start of the tenth set van Barneveld broke Wade's throw to hold the advantage, before winning the second leg with a fantastic 128 checkout, with Wade waiting on a two-dart finish.
That took van Barneveld one leg away from victory and he wrapped up the match in the next with a 100 finish to book his place in the final.
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