James Wade has spoken about Luke Littler and Luke Humphries (Image: Dan Istitene, Getty Images)
James Wade insists it’s downright disrespectful to write off the World Darts Championship as simply a battle between the two dominant Lukes.
The self-proclaimed Mr Awkward is convinced he’s amongst a group of challengers capable of catching the leading pair at Alexandra Palace. Wade’s performances this year establish him as a genuine contender for the title, and any suggestion that it’s merely a two-horse race doesn’t wash with The Machine.
Littler holds the World Championship crown and sits at World No.1. Humphries occupies the World No. 2 spot. The duo are accumulating titles and final berths at such a pace that certain supporters are now describing it as tedious.
Wade offered nothing but admiration for the formidable pair, yet refuses to accept that the remainder are simply making up the numbers, as he said: « I think it’s clear that Luke and Luke are the two best players in the world. That’s not hard to work that out. They’re both playing the best darts.
« But I think it’s quite rude to the other darts players to say: ‘Oh, it’s going to be Luke and Luke’. There’s some really good dart players out there and past champions. It’s a long tournament.
« They’re both clearly the best players in the world at the moment and a lot of players say they’re not frightened to play Luke [Littler], but I think they are because you get players that are on their game at that time as well and then they don’t turn up, or they really fluster against Luke.
« I don’t know if the players run with their tail between their legs when they play him. I don’t think they roll over on purpose. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s not both of them in the final. »
Wade, despite arguably being the best player never to have won a World Championship, holds the distinction of being the third-most decorated player in PDC history.
However, the 42-year-old brushes off such labels, stating: « I’m an underachiever because of it. I should have won loads more things, should have done loads more stuff so far. »
Littler is the heavy favourite to taste glory at Ally Pally once again (Image: Getty)
While some praise Wade, others fail to give him his due credit. To this, he responded: « It sounds rude, but I don’t really care. I’ve tried being in touch and in one with everything and you get your hands burnt.
« And then you try doing it for other people and then that still doesn’t quite work, so you get to the point in my age where you just think, just do what I do. Just do what I do and then I can’t get hurt or disappointed. I can’t get disappointed if I don’t get picked for something, I can’t get hurt if someone’s personal towards me, so I think that’s just life.
« In life, you just tend to do your same thing, but you step back a little bit. You don’t try and please people so much and you don’t try to be as many friends to people. I think that’s just a typical thing when you get older, isn’t it? When I was younger, I wanted to please everyone, I wanted everyone to like me and the way I am, that’s never going to happen.
« So I was always setting myself up for a massive fall, you know? Very, very few people understand me. Very few people put up with me. So my circle was always going to be small. But the person and character I am, I always wanted everyone to like me. I just wanted to do good for everyone.
« I’m obviously not a fashionable darts player, that frustrates me a little bit. That people just go on about other players and you just get completely overlooked and that’s a little bit of frustration. I’m awkward and I don’t mean to be awkward, I just am. I’m less awkward, but I’m still awkward. »
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Wade doesn’t shy away from controversy. On the subject of players fist-bumping each other during matches, he remarked: « I find that weird. And then when I don’t do it, I think: Oh, I should have done that. Now I’m going to get a dog’s life. But why should you? I don’t understand.
« You’re there to play a game. Just because you don’t do something doesn’t mean you don’t respect that person. You don’t mean it ill-mannered. Some of us like brown sauce, some of us like tomato sauce, we all do things differently. Some people like steak, some people like vegetables.
« We’re all different, aren’t we? In my honest, humble opinion, I think players try so hard to be nice. I think a lot of the newer players want to come across as nice guys.
« It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person because you don’t want to shake someone’s hand in a game and stuff like that, you know?
Wade has never won the World Championship (Image: Lewis Storey, Getty Images)
« I just think players are very, very profile-aware now and they’re very conscious of that. And a lot of the younger players, they do lots of other things. They’re very good as a product, not just darts. They’re very good businessmen. That’d be the right word, wouldn’t it? ».
Should Wade claim the title and its £1million prize purse, he insists nothing would alter, explaining: « I’ve done everything I need to. Well, I haven’t done everything I need to, but I’ve earned okay over the last 20 years. I’ve also spent a lot as well! ».
« What’s on my bucket list, honestly, is when I do retire, I’m just going to be there for my kids. That’s it, isn’t it? ».
« I’ve got two boys, I want to look after them and try and be there for as much as possible for them and I want to still, hopefully, fingers crossed, be around when they have grandchildren, I want to babysit, I want to do all that stuff. »
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