Wade: Greaves will "upset" male players with titles

JAMES WADE believes Beau Greaves will “upset” many male players with more titles.

The 11-time TV major winner is preparing for the New Zealand Masters in Auckland on Friday night.

Wade, 43, heaped praise on the recently crowned Women’s World Matchplay champion and admitted he was “so nervous” before beating her last year when he hit a career-best average of 115.92.

He said: “She is the real deal. I don’t know what Beau does. Beau is better than most men.

“What makes her different. She is something very special. She can average a hundred easy.

“She’s won a tournament that no one else has done. And she won it well.

“She’ll win more. She’ll probably upset lots of other male players because she’s that good.

“I’m lucky I’ve only played her once and I averaged something like 115, which is really unusual for me. I was so nervous to play her.

“I played her like that and she was with me all way. She really is that good.

“I think before some players have been covered a bit more than they should have been. She really has got the ability and she should be paraded around.”

Wade will face Kayden Milne in his Masters quarter-finals opener on Friday night, eight years after he last won the World Series finals.

World No.2 Gian Van Veen will be the highest-ranked player in action Down Under, and the Dutchman will play New Zealand’s World Cup star Jonny Tata in an intriguing quarter-final tie. The biggest clash will be between Josh Rock and legendary Aussie Simon Whitlock.

Following Friday’s opening night, the New Zealand Masters will conclude with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final during a bumper Saturday evening session at the Spark Arena.

Play gets underway from 1900 local time (0800 BST) on each day, with coverage broadcast live on Sky in New Zealand and Fox Sports in Australia, and through DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

UK fans can watch the action live on ITV4, with coverage also available on PDCTV in all global territories.

Schedule of Play:

Friday August 14 (1900 NZST, 0800 BST)

Gerwyn Price v Mark Cleaver

Ross Smith v Adam Leek

James Wade v Kayden Milne

Josh Rock v Simon Whitlock

Gian van Veen v Jonny Tata

Jonny Clayton v Haupai Puha

Damon Heta v Ben Robb

Stephen Bunting v Raymond Smith

Best of 11 legs

Image by Taylor Lanning.