James Wade

Darts player infobox


playername = James Wade
fullname =
nickname = The Machine
dateofbirth = April 6, 1983
cityofbirth = Aldershot
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
hometown = Aldershot
homecountry = England
since = 2001
darts = 20g Unicorn James Wade
music = Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes
BDO = 2001 to 2004
PDC = 2004 to present
currentrank = 3
BDO World = 2nd Round 2004
World Masters =
World Darts Trophy = 2nd Round 2003
Int. Darts League = QF 2004
PDC World = QF 2008
Matchplay = Winner, 2007
Grand Prix = Winner, 2007
UK Open = Winner, 2008
Vegas = Runner-up, 2008
Grand Slam = 2nd Round 2007
Premier League = Runner-up 2008
Championship League = Initial groups, 5th place, 2008
tournament = Players Ch'ship flagicon|Gibraltar
UK Open Regional (NW)
UK Open Regional flagicon|WAL
UK Open Regional flagicon|SCO
Swiss Open
Irish Masters
Norfolk Open
resultyears = 2008
2007
2007
2007
2002
2005
2006
achievement = 2006 PDC Young Player of the Year
2006 Three Nine dart finishes during a calendar year (a record)
2007 PDC Player of the Year
updated = October 23 2007

James Wade (born 6 April 1983 in Aldershot, Hampshire) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player ever to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in July 2007. He has since won the 2007 World Grand Prix and the 2008 UK Open, and is currently at a career-high ranking of third in the PDC Order of Merit.

Early career

Wade reached the final of the British Classic in 2001 at the age of just 18, losing to John Walton but the following year he won the Swiss Open and then made his television debut at the 2003 Lakeside World Championship, but lost 2-3 in the first round to Dennis Harbour. In other BDO Open events during 2003, he reached the Norway Open final, Belgian Open semi-finals and Dutch Open quarter finals.

At the 2004 Lakeside World Championship, he beat Shaun Greatbatch 3-0 in the first round, before losing to Darryl Fitton in the second round. Later in 2004, he reached a series of quarter-finals including the German Open, the Isle of Man Open and the prestigious International Darts League in May - which would be his last tournament as a BDO affiliated

PDC switch

In May 2004, despite having qualified for the final stages of many BDO tournaments, Wade took the decision to forfeit his automatic place in the 2004 World Darts Trophy and 2005 BDO World Championship to join the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) and the PDC circuit.

He made his PDC World Championship début in 2005, losing in the first round to Mark Holden. He bounced back from this to win the Irish Masters in February and reach the last 16 of the UK Open later that year. He also qualified for the Las Vegas Desert Classic (beating the experienced Ronnie Baxter) and the World Grand Prix during the year as well. He also qualified for the 2006 World Championship, losing again in the first round, this time 3-2 to Wayne Jones, who would go on to reach the semi-finals, despite having won the first six legs for a two-set lead.

Wade reached the last 16 of the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship losing to Terry Jenkins having earlier beaten New Zealand qualifier Warren French and Dave Ladley in round two.

Major breakthrough

He made his major breakthrough on television during the 2006 World Matchplay in July. He sensationally reached the final, beating four experienced and respected darts players, in his first ever appearance at the Winter Gardens. He beat Dennis Ovens in the first round 10-1, having had darts to make it a 10-0 whitewash. In the second round he beat then-World No. 7 and former World Championship finalist Kevin Painter 13-9, ending one leg with two double-20s to cause a minor controversy, and beat Chris Mason 16-4 in his quarter-final. In the semi-finals he came back from 1-5 down to beat Dutchman Roland Scholten 19-17 in a tiebreaker, which requires the winner to win by two clear legs. In the final he played Phil Taylor but despite being 8-5 up, he lost an entertaining final 18-11.

He then returned to Blackpool in 2007 to claim the title - his first major televised tournament success and became the youngest player ever to win a PDC televised event in doing so. His route to the title and £50,000 cheque saw him beat Wayne Jones, Dennis Priestley, Mervyn King, Adrian Lewis and Terry Jenkins (who beat Phil Taylor in the semi-final) in the final.

Although Wade's victory was nothing short of emphatic over the ever-tenacious Jenkins, many believe his semi-final victory over Adrian Lewis was one of the finest performances ever seen at the Winter Gardens Fact|date=September 2007. He consistently checked out ton-plus scores whilst Lewis, fresh from defeating world champion Barneveld, having a 3-dart average of over 100, was unable to keep up with the fast-improving Wade.

Wade also won the next PDC major tournament - the 2007 World Grand Prix in Dublin in October beating Raymond van Barneveld by 5 sets to 1 in the semi-final and repeating his Blackpool success over Terry Jenkins in the final.

Wade's forementioned successes in 2007 were rewarded with him winning the 2007 PDC Player of the Year. Wade became the second receipent of this award, following in the footsteps of Phil Taylor in 2006. He was presented with it at the annual PDC Awards Dinner in January 2008.

Wade reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 PDC World Championship, being defeated 5 sets to 4 in a close encounter against John Part, who went on to win the tournament.

In January 2008, Wade became the first player to defeat Phil Taylor in the Premier League of Darts, winning the match 8 legs to 6. Taylor however exacted revenge with a 16-8 victory in the final on 26 May 2008 after Wade had defeated Raymond Van Barneveld in the semi-final.

On the 8th June 2008, Wade beat American Gary Mawson 11-7 in the final to win the 2008 Blue Square UK Darts Open, claiming his third major trophy within a year.The following month, he reached the finals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, losing 13-7 to Phil Taylor. Then in July reached his 3rd World Matchplay final in a row, losing for the 2nd time in 3 years in the final to Phil "The Power" Taylor 18-9, making this the 3rd Major Final loss of the year against Taylor.

Nicknames

Whilst it is somewhat traditional for a darts player to adopt a sobriquet, Wade has adopted several in his short career so far. His first nickname, The Gladiator was changed following his nine-dart exploits in 2006 to 009 - a take on James Bond's 007. This was used during the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship.

In November 2007, during the Grand Slam of Darts - he was introduced on television graphics as having "no nickname". In December 2007, following a competition which invited fans to provide him with a new nickname, Wade became known as 'Spectacular'.Fact|date=February 2008 A play on the fact that Wade is one of the few players who wears spectacles when he plays. For his Premier League debut in January 2008 he unveiled another nickname - "The Machine".

However, in order to avoid confusion, the majority of pundits and commentators during PDC tournaments simply refer to Wade as "Wadey".

Nine dart finishes

He became the first player to hit three tournament nine-dart finishes in a calendar year during 2006. They came at the North-West UK Open Regional Final in March, the PDPA Players Championship at Hayling Island in June and he completed his hat-trick at the Vauxhall Men's Open in November. None of these achievements were in televised competitions.

Wade came within one dart of achieving the first ever nine-darter with a double start at the 2007 World Grand Prix in Dublin. In the semi-final against Raymond van Barneveld he hit double top to open the leg, then six treble 20s, treble 17 then missed a bullseye for a unique nine-darter.

Outside darts

Wade quit his job at a garage in Aldershot twelve days before the World Matchplay 2006, to concentrate on becoming a full-time professional darts player - however he returned to his role for Kwik Fit in the summer of 2007 on a part-time basis to fill the time between practice sessions. [ [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1080875,00.html Wade returns to work after Matchplay win] Planetdarts.tv]

References

External links

* [http://www.jameswade.org.uk/ James Wade's official web site]
* [http://www.matchroomsport.com/articleDetail.asp?intArticleID=468 James Wade wins PDC Player Of The Year award]
* [http://www.darts1.de/interviews/wade1e.php Interview at darts1.de]