(8) Wayne Mardle

Last updated: 10th December 2008

Darts Premier League 2008 Wayne Mardle

Mardle: Five-time semi-finalist

Date of birth: 10.05.73
Home town: Romford
Nickname: Hawaii 501
Major titles: None
World Championship best: Semi-Finals (five times)
Walk-on music: Theme from Hawaii 5-0

Last year's Ladbrokes.com World Championship encapsulated perfectly the excitement and frustration that Mardle can cause in almost equal measure.

Having stunned pre-tournament favourite and No 1 seed Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals, the flamboyant 'Hawaii 501' was heavily fancied to finally deliver on the promise that has long seen him labelled a future world champion.

Yet he flunked the golden opportunity by losing to the unheralded Kirk Shepherd in the last four to mean his wait for not only the Major - but a Major - goes on.

His last-four appearance at Ally Pally was followed by a similar performance at the World Matchplay (where he was ultimately hammered by James Wade) but since then he has struggled to make the business end of tournaments.

Always a confident character, Mardle is a five-time World Championship semi-finalist (once from his time in the BDO) but has frustratingly failed to find the level of consistency needed to regularly compete with the likes of Taylor.