Waites secured the biggest win - and payday - of his career

Scott Waites staged an amazing comeback against James Wade to clinch victory in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts.

Yorkshire's Waites found himself 8-0 down against Wade in Wolverhampton but rallied to seal a memorable 16-12 win.

The 33-year-old, who plays on the British Darts Organisation circuit, was runner-up last year but claimed the £100,000 first prize this time round.

"At 8-0, I told myself to concentrate and just play my darts. Suddenly I drew level and then went in front," he said.

"Once that happened I wasn't going to go behind again. To be honest, it still hasn't sunk in and I will be in work in the morning," added the Halifax-based joiner.

606: DEBATE A player who fits playing darts around a full-time job and manages to beat the world's best - it's a major achievement and should be recognised by fair-minded fans of both codes wilbydoughboy

Waites' run to the final included wins over former world champion Raymond van Barneveld and Steve Beaton, who ended the reign of title-holder Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals.

His triumph helped to erase the pain of his 16-2 defeat by 15-time world champion Taylor in the 2009 Grand Slam final.

The lucrative event features a field drawn from both the BDO and its rival the Professional Darts Corporation and is organised by PDC chairman Barry Hearn.

Both organisations stage their world championships in the next two months, with the PDC version running from 16 December to 3 January at London's Alexandra Palace, and the BDO's at Frimley Green, Surrey, from 1-9 January.

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