James Wade

 ( 1983 Births ) 

At the UK Open, Wade eliminated Michael Mansell and Kim Huybrechts, before being edged out 9–8 in the fifth round by Terry Jenkins. At the Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters he led world number one Michael van Gerwen 5–3, but was eliminated in a deciding leg 10–9. Wade reached his first final in almost two years at the 12th Players Championship of 2014 by defeating Van Gerwen 6–4 in the semi-finals, but then lost 6–3 to Simon Whitlock. Later in the month he won his first title since October 2011 by coming back from 4–1 down to beat Steve Beaton 6–4 in the final of the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, stating afterwards that the success meant more to him than of his televised wins as he was unsure if he was still capable of winning tournaments. Wade could not advance to the semi-finals of the World Matchplay for the first time since 2009 as he lost in the quarters 16–10 to Whitlock.

Wade's match against Robert Thornton in the second round of the World Grand Prix is regarded as the best in the tournament's history. At 1–0 up in sets, Wade opened the next with the second ever double-start nine-dart finish and threw a 156 finish in the leg after. However, he went on to lose the set and the following one, before Thornton incredibly threw the game's second nine-darter to become the first players to have thrown a perfect leg in the same match in darts history. Thornton would miss four darts to win 3–1, with the tie instead going into a deciding set which Wade took to advance to the quarter-finals. Wade continued his run by beating Phil Taylor for the first time in a major knockout tournament and reached the final by fighting back from 3–1 down against Gary Anderson to win 4–3. Wade paid the price for missing doubles against Michael van Gerwen including three to win both the fifth and seventh sets as he fell short of claiming a hat-trick of Grand Prix titles with a 5–3 defeat. The following week, Wade won the 17th Players Championship by fighting back from 5–3 behind to beat Kim Huybrechts 6–5. He was denied a weekend double 24 hours later as Van Gerwen beat him 6–2 in the final of the 18th event.

Wade beat Taylor in a major event for the second time inside a month in the semi-finals of the Masters 11–9 with an average of 105.56. Wade started the final poorly, to fall 5–0, 6–1, 9–2 and 10–6 behind against Mervyn King, but incredibly King would miss a total of eight match darts, as Wade won the last five legs of the match to defeat King 11–10 and take his first major title for three years. Wade hit a 135 checkout in the last leg. The comeback was later named the televised performance of the year at the PDC's annual awards dinner.

In the semi-finals of the World Matchplay, Wade ended Phil Taylor's 38 match winning streak in the event stretching back to 2007 by beating him 17–14. He lost in the final for the fifth time this time 18–12 to Van Gerwen. Wade played Taylor in the final of the Perth Darts Masters and lost 11–7. He suffered a surprise 2–1 defeat to Mensur Suljović in the first round of the World Grand Prix. In October, Wade won through to the final of the 20th Players Championship and in doing so became the second player to reach 100 quarter-finals on the Pro Tour. He lost 6–2 to Gary Anderson. Wade was knocked out in the second round of the European Championship, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.

Wade failed to get to at least the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay in his 11th appearance at the event when he lost 10–5 in the opening round to Mervyn King. In the inaugural staging of the Champions League of Darts, Wade was eliminated in the semi-finals 11–3 by Phil Taylor. Whilst at the event Wade broke the Guinness World Records title for the most darts in the inner and outer bullseyes in one minute with 15. He lost 2–1 in a deciding leg to Terry Jenkins in the first round of the World Grand Prix and 11–7 in the semi-finals of the European Championship to Van Gerwen. Wade played in his only major final of the year at the Grand Slam, by beating Anderson 16–14, but Van Gerwen won 10 of the final 13 legs to defeat Wade 16–8.

At the World Series of Darts Finals, Wade defeated debutant Ross Smith 6–3 in the first round. He then defeated hometown favorite Mensur Suljović 6–3 in the second round and Jamie Lewis 10–5 in the Quarter-Finals, continuing his excellent stretch of form. It was the first time since 2011 that Wade won 8 consecutive TV major matches. In the Semi-Finals, Wade dispatched 5-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld 11–2 in a high quality affair in which Wade averaged 100 and hit 65% of his doubles. This win stretched Wade's unbeaten TV run to 9 matches, the first time he had achieved this feat since 2008. In the Final, Wade played Michael Smith. Wade got off to a 3-leg advantage but Smith would peg him back to 5–5 before the second break. Wade would go onto break Smith in the 19th leg to serve the title out at 10–9 but he busted his score of 121, and Smith eventually came back and won the leg. In the decider, Smith missed 5 match darts and Wade sealed the title on D18. The tournament victory was Wade's second major in 7 days, and the 10th of his career. It was also Wade's first World Series Title. Wade's tournament victories sealed his place in the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts where he drew Keegan Brown, Mark Webster and Wesley Harms to comprise Group C. Wade won his opening group match, whitewashing BDO player Wesley Harms 5–0 with a 99 average. In his second group game, Wade defeated Keegan Brown 5–3, averaging 105. In doing so, Wade set a new personal record of 12 TV major wins in succession. Wade defeated Mark Webster 5–1 with a 102 average in the final group match to top the group, extending his unbeaten run to 13 matches and setting up a Round of 16 showdown with Michael Unterbuchner. Wade lost, rather surprisingly, to Michael Unterbuchner 10–6.

Wade beat Ross Smith 6–4 in the first round of the 2018 Players Championship Finals. He then overcame Nathan Aspinall 6–4 in the second round before losing out to Chris Dobey 10–9 in the round of 16.

Wade bettered his record of 4 PDC titles in one calendar year, by winning his 5th Players Championship event of the year at PC 24, defeating Dave Chisnall 8–6 in the final. Wade defeated John Henderson 2–1 in the first round of the 2019 World Grand Prix (darts). Wade went down to Mervyn King (darts player) 1–3 in the round of 16. Wade's attempt at defending his 2018 European Championship title ended abruptly in the 1st round of the 2019 event as he was whitewashed 0–6 by Welshman Jonny Clayton. Wade lost to Jonny Clayton 5–6 once more at the 2019 World Series of Darts Finals. Wade picked up his form again at the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts, winning his opening 2 group stage matches, 5–2 against Wesley Harms and 5–4 against Ian White. He was then defeated by Steve Lennon in the final group stage match and lost to Adrian Lewis 9–10 in last 16. Wade defeated Ted Evetts and Ricky Evans in the 1st and 2 cd rounds of the 2019 Players Championship Finals, respectively. Wade lost 10–6 to Michael van Gerwen in the 3rd round.

At the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts, Wade hit a 113 average in a group stage match against countryman Rob Cross, winning 5–2 and securing his passage to the round of 16. It was the 9th consecutive year Wade advanced past the Group Stages & on to the knockout phase of the tournament. Wade defeated Rowby-John Rodriguez 10–2 in the last 16 and Rob Cross 16–14 in the Quarter-Finals. Wade lost to the eventual champion Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals 16–9. Wade reached the last 16 at the 2021 Players Championship Finals where he was beaten 10–7 by Daryl Gurney.

After securing the last qualification spot for the World Matchplay in the final event before the cut-off, Wade reached the quarter-finals of the event for the first time since 2019 after defeating defending champion Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the second round. He beat Ross Smith 16–10 to advance to his first semi-final in nine years, before succumbing to reigning world champion and eventual tournament winner Luke Humphries in a 17–10 loss. He also reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix, where he was eliminated by eventual champion Mike De Decker.

At the World Matchplay, Wade reached his seventh final at the tournament. He once again faced Littler and despite leading 5–0, he went on to lose to Littler 18–13. His run to the final resulted in him re-entering the top five of the PDC Order of Merit.

In November 2007, during the 2007 Grand Slam of Darts – Wade introduced himself on a television promo as having "no nickname". In December 2007, following a competition which invited fans to provide him with a new nickname, Wade briefly became known as Spectacular, a play on the fact that Wade is one of the few players who wears spectacles when he plays. He was briefly known as The Wingman. He cited his dislike for the insinuations the name lead to and fans asking him to make social appearances after matches. For his Premier League debut in January 2008, Wade unveiled another nickname – The Machine, which he has used ever since.

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 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.

On 20 November 2008, Wade completed his first live nine-darter hitting two 180s then T20, T19 and D12 against Gary Anderson in the second round of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts which was shown on ITV4. However, Anderson went on to win the match 10–8, therefore Wade became the first man to hit a nine-dart finish in a major televised tournament in the UK and then go on to lose the match. (Michael van Gerwen had previously done so in a tournament on Dutch television.) Wade was also the first left-handed player to hit a live nine-darter.

In October 2014, at the World Grand Prix against Robert Thornton, Wade hit scores of 160, 180 and 161 to become the second ever player to throw a double-start nine darter. Later in the match Thornton repeated the feat with the pair becoming the first players to both throw nine darters in the same match in the history of darts. Wade remains the only PDC player to achieve a televised 9 darter for double start and open start formats.

In December 2020, Wade hit a nine-darter at the World Championships in a third-round game against Stephen Bunting. He became the first player in 5 years to throw a nine-darter at the PDC World Darts Championship, after Gary Anderson at the 2016 PDC World Darts Championship. He went on to lose the game 4–2.

Wade is also infamous for the number of nine darters thrown against him; he has had thirteen nine darters hit against him, a current PDPA record.

Wade dated Soccer AM presenter Helen Chamberlain from 2008 to 2010, but they split after roughly two years together. On 8 August 2015, Wade married model Sammi Marsh, who he has been in a relationship with since 2013. Marsh worked for the PDC as a "walk-on" girl and often accompanied Wade during his entrance. She is now Wade's manager.

In 2012, Wade, together with the seven other players who competed in the Premier League recorded a charity single with Chas Hodges and his band called 'Got My Tickets for the Darts' which was written by Chas. It was released on 18 May, the night after the play-offs at the O2 in London, where it was premiered. Proceeds from the single were donated to the Haven House Children's Hospice. On 8 October 2018, Wade's wife Sammi Marsh gave birth to a son. They also have a second son.

Wade has bipolar disorder and ADHD, and has openly spoken about his experiences with mental health. He has been an ambassador for Bipolar UK since 2016, wearing the charity's logo on his darts shirts, and has participated in fundraisers for them.

Wade chose his current walk-on song – I'm Still Standing by Elton John – to represent how he came through his struggles.

• 2003: First round (lost to Dennis Harbour 2–3)
• 2004: Second round (lost to Darryl Fitton 1–3)

• 2005: First round (lost to Mark Holden 0–3)
• 2006: First round (lost to Wayne Jones 2–3)
• 2007: Third round (lost to Terry Jenkins 3–4)
• 2008: Quarter-finals (lost to John Part 4–5)
• 2009: Semi-finals (lost to Raymond van Barneveld 4–6)
• 2010: Quarter-finals (lost to Simon Whitlock 3–5)
• 2011: Second round (lost to Mensur Suljović 2–4)
• 2012: Semi-finals (lost to Adrian Lewis 5–6)
• 2013: Semi-finals (lost to Michael van Gerwen 4–6)
• 2014: Quarter-finals (lost to Adrian Lewis 1–5)
• 2015: Second round (lost to Stephen Bunting 1–4)
• 2016: Quarter-finals (lost to Gary Anderson 1–5)
• 2017: Quarter-finals (lost to Peter Wright 3–5)
• 2018: First round (lost to Keegan Brown 2–3)
• 2019: Fourth round (lost to Ryan Joyce 3–4)
• 2020: Third round (lost to Steve Beaton 2–4)
• 2021: Third round (lost to Stephen Bunting 2–4)
• 2022: Semi-finals (lost to Michael Smith 3–6)
• 2023: Second round (lost to Jim Williams 2–3)
• 2024: Second round (lost to Matt Campbell 2–3)
• 2025: Second round (lost to Jermaine Wattimena 0–3)

PDC

PDC Players Championships

Key

• James Wade's official web site
• James Wade wins PDC Player of the Year award
• James Wade player profile at Mastercaller