The Top Dart Players: James "The Machine" Wade
James "The Machine" Wade
 It's the stuff that darting dreams are made of and James Wade is living that dream after establishing himself as one of THE best in the business.
He has catapulted himself into the elite with an amazing year... three 'Major' titles... what a player, what a year and what a future! And it's only just the start…... how about this for an incredible darting CV - and all achieved in a magical year... No wonder, they call him the 'Golden Boy of Darts!"
UK Open Champion, World Matchplay Champion, World Grand Prix Champion, No.3 in the world rankings, named both PDC Player of the Year and PDPA Player of the Year at the glittering awards night at The Dorchester, an amazing 20 finals... and a new nickname! The only blot on the copybook - three defeats in three 'Major' TV Finals during 2008 to a certain Philip Taylor and that is something Wade is determined to put right over the next year.
In May, he lost the Premier League Final by 16 legs to 8... then he was beaten 13-7 in the Las Vegas Desert Classic Final and three weeks later, an inspired Taylor took Wade's World Matchplay title with an 18-9 victory in Blackpool. "Yet again, Phil has set a new level and it is up to me to top that and beat him in a Major Final but I am sure that will come. I am so focused at the moment and beating the greatest of them all in a TV Final is now a priority for me. I will keep working and working," he said.
'The Machine' aptly sums up the game of James Wade, who wowed the crowds across the UK in his debut season in the Premier League. Wade secured his hat-trick in 'Majors' in the space of only 10-and-a-half months when he beat Unicorn stablemate Gary Mawson to win the 2008 UK Open crown at Bolton. "If you had said to me in June 2007 that this time next year, I'd have won at Blackpool, Dublin and Bolton - on top of everything else I've achieved, I would have laughed out loud! It has been reward for a lot of hard work and hopefully people will now start realising that there are more than two players in the PDC!" Wade said.
At The Reebok, he beat the likes of Steve Brown, Ronnie Baxter, Alan Tabern and Vincent van der Voort, before beating Mawson by 11 legs to 7 in the final to pocket the winners cheque of £35,000, and in that semi-final victory over Van der Voort, Wade had incredible 77 per cent check-out success rate!
Apart from those three fin al defeats against Taylor, the other big disappointment over the last 18 months for Wade was the 2008 World Championship at the Alexandra Palace, when of course he lost a thrilling Quarter-Final against Unicorn team-mate John Part, as the Canadian went on to win his third World Championship title. The match went all the way to a final set tie-break but Wade will console himself in the knowledge that he is surely destined to win darts' biggest prize very soon.
"It has been a special year," Wade said. "Sometimes I have to pinch myself but I have always had the belief and confidence in what I do and I am now determined to kick on and win more of the big titles. I'm enjoying myself and having fun. I still get nervous every time I go up on the stage but I just love what I do and I am lucky to have the opportunity."
Also during 2008, he has won the Stan James Players Championship in Gibraltar but his eye catching performances in the Premier League stole the show around the country! Wade became the first man to beat Phil Taylor in the PL - with victory on the opening night in Glasgow - to end Taylor's 44-match unbeaten run. He finished second in the group stages - just a point behind Taylor - then beat Raymond Van Barneveld in the semi-finals, before losing a terrific final to 'The Power' by 16 legs to 8, despite an average of over 100... but the £50,000 prize money was consolation!
Wade said: "There is no doubt that the Premier League has massively improved my game and that experience helped me to come through and win the UK Open in Bolton. It's now onward and upward in the hunt for more titles!" He earned a cool £100,000 from becoming the youngest ever winner of the WMP and WGP but the titles and achievement mean much more to Wade! His triumphs in Blackpool and Dublin were just rewards for the best left-hander in world darts. He was outstanding at The Winter Gardens and the City West Hotel - proving once and for all that he is a major player in the darts world.
He beat fellow Team Unicorn star Terry Jenkins in both finals - demolishing 'The Bull' 18 legs to 7 in Blackpool, with a 97 average... then winning the World Grand Prix by 6 sets to 3. "I am doing my best to take it all in my stride," he said. "But these are certainly exciting times and I honestly believe there is another 20/25 per cent to come."
In Dublin, he beat Denis Ovens, Alex Roy and Colin Lloyd, before blitzing World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld in the semi-finals 5 sets to 1. He lost only five sets in five matches in the whole week in Dublin and against Barney, Wade just missed the bull to become the first player ever to hit a 9-darter, with a double-to-start, on 'live' TV. But he doesn't rate his victory over Barneveld as his best performance ever. "I would say the 19-17 victory over Roland Scholten in the 2006 World Matchplay semi-finals is still the best, closely followed by my win over Adrian Lewis in the 2007 Blackpool semi-finals."
At the Winter Gardens in 2007, he beat Wayne Jones and was then involved in a mini-classic. After missing 11 darts for victory, he finally overcame Dennis Priestley 16-14 in a tie-break. 'The Menace' actually bent the wire on double top with his only dart to win - but Wade rode his luck and got better and better. A surprisingly easy victory over Mervyn King was followed by that win against Adrian Lewis in the semi-finals. Lewis had earlier stunned World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld, so it was expected to be very close. Not a bit of it! Wade romped to a 17-7 win, boasting one of the best check-out rates in the 14-year history of the tournament. From 9-7 in front, he won eight consecutive legs, averaged 102, hit five ton plus finishes (and three more in the 90s!) and that 68 per cent check-out success was simply amazing!
Since that big breakthrough win in July 2007, Wade beat Barneveld to win the UK Open Welsh Regional in Newport. He also won the Scottish Regional - beating Ronnie Baxter and reached the finals of PDC Pro Tour events in Atlanta, Ireland, Germany and Chicago and competed in the World Darts Trophy in Holland. The 24-year-old has always promised so much and he is now delivering. In 2006, Wade gave a hint of what was to come at Blackpool, when he reached the quarter-finals of the International Darts League in Holland - admitting "I played some of the best darts of my life" and he was beaten by Gary Anderson, despite a brilliant 106 average.
He was No.2 seed for the UK Open at Bolton - winning the North West Regional - and beating Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals... Wade's average an unbelievable 110.48! He has also appeared in many other finals and countless other semi and quarter-finals. It seems an age ago but it was the summer of 2006 when we all witnessed first hand what James Wade is really all about, when he reached the final of the World Matchplay in Blackpool. It was a phenomenal achievement, which prompted the great Eric Bristow to say: "It was the best performance I have seen from someone his age!"
He lost the final to Phil Taylor but gave 'The Power' a real run for his money - missing darts to take a 10-5 lead - and since that golden week on the golden mile, Wade has gone from strength to strength... and his achievement of going one step further in 2007 at The Winter Gardens speaks volumes for his temperament and talent. And there has been high praise from Taylor himself: "James is a cracking player. He has made a name for himself and there is no doubt that the future is very bright for him."
Wade has proved both Taylor and Bristow right after being crowned World Matchplay Champion and then adding the World Grand Prix crown to his already impressive CV. Sky Sports legendary commentator Sid Waddell picked Wade out as a future World Champion two years ago and the young left-hander could well prove him right! The big turning point for Wade can be traced back to the summer of 2006. After failing to qualify for the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic, he quit his job as a full-time mechanic to become a darts professional but he still likes to tinker under the bonnet: "to take my mind away from darts!"
He started to take his chosen sport seriously and look what he has gone on to achieve! He said: "I have really practiced and put in a lot of hard work and I got instant reward. I now have to take that performance forward and make sure I improve and get better, because it is going to get harder and I know the others will raise their game when they play me now."
He caused a stir in 2006, by remarkably hitting not one but two magical 9-darters in competition. His first came in the UK Open North West Regional in Manchester... and his second came in the Players Championship event at Hayling Island. After impressing in the BDO with his precocious talent, he took the bold decision to switch to the PDC and Wade has reaped the rewards.
Unicorn were quick to identify the new kid on the block and Wade has already repaid that faith. It has been a meteoric rise. He has just one giant stride to make at Team Unicorn... from Maestro to World Champion! "I believe I can be world No.1 in a few years and I am sure I will be World Champion," Wade said. "I would be really angry in five or six years time if I look back and haven't achieved that dream."
That is certainly not arrogance, just the self-belief that has carried Wade during his short career. It is difficult to believe that he only started to play competitive darts seven years ago. Wade explains: "I went to play for my dad's team Ash Royal British Legion in a local league and amazingly checked out 109 in my first match. That was it. I was hooked!" He added: "It was my great friend and co-sponsor Jason Thame who persuaded me to take the leap to the PDC and he was right! But the link-up with Team Unicorn has been one of my proudest moments in darts so far. They are the number one in darts and that's where I want to be as well."
In 2005, Wade won his first big PDC title. He lifted the Irish Masters crown in Rosslare after claiming some notable scalps along the way. Andy Jenkins, Team Unicorn's Colin Lloyd and former World Champion Steve Beaton to name but a few and Wade then beat Steve Maish convincingly in the final. He has quickly built up a reputation as a player the others definitely want to avoid in tournaments. "That is a big compliment," he said. "It means I have got the respect from the best in the business and being given the Players Player of the Year award by my fellow pro's is one of the biggest honours of my life."
He has played at the last four World Championships and is surely destined to dominate the stage at the Ally Pally for many years to come.
He is a rarity in darts these days being a left-hander but it has all come together for Team Unicorn's James Wade.
And the young man has recently decided to put something back into the sport. He is helping to sponsor rising star Ricky Williams (a Team Unicorn newcomer) over the next 12 months.
So far, we've read only a few chapters of the 'Darts Book of James Wade' and the man they now call 'The Machine' is set to fire on all cylinders for many years to come.
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