75 Facts About James Wade

James Martin Wade was born on 6 April 1983 and is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation events, where he is currently ranked world number ten; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2010.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest ever darts players to have never won a world championship and the greatest left-hander in the history of the sport, Wade is a four-time PDC World Championship semi-finalist and eleven time PDC major winner, placing him third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.

James Wade started his career in the British Darts Organisation in 2001 before joining the Professional Darts Corporation in 2004.

James Wade became the then-youngest player to win a major PDC title when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at age 24.

James Wade has won a total of thirty-eight PDC titles in his professional career.

James Wade has been noted for the high amount of nine-dart finishes hit against him; he has been on the receiving end of thirteen televised nine darters in his career.

James Wade first took playing darts seriously at the age of 14 and won the Basingstoke Open, his first competitive event and went on to compete for England at youth level.

James Wade reached the final of the British Classic in 2001 at the age of 18, losing to John Walton and the following year he won the Swiss Open.

In May 2004, James 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 Corporation.

James Wade bounced back from this to win the Irish Masters and moved closer to the top 32 in the world for the first time.

James Wade hit two nine-dart finishes in the early part of 2006, but when he was defeated in the qualifiers for the Las Vegas Desert Classic he decided to give up his job as a mechanic and become a full-time darts professional.

James Wade sensationally reached the final, seeing off four experienced players in his first ever appearance at the Winter Gardens.

James Wade was then awarded with the PDC's Young Player of the Year and his world ranking had climbed to number 11.

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

James Wade made his debut in the Premier League as he was in the top four of the Order of Merit and on the opening night became the first player to defeat Taylor in the tournament's three-year history, winning the match 8 legs to 6.

James Wade returned to form to claim two Players Championship titles in the autumn and hit his first televised nine-darter in a second round loss to Gary Anderson at the Grand Slam of Darts.

James Wade then failed to reach the World Matchplay final for the first time, losing in the quarter-finals to Ronnie Baxter.

James Wade lost to an on-fire Simon Whitlock in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Championship.

James Wade was the number two seed for the 2011 World Championship due to his World Grand Prix and Champions League Darts victories.

James Wade dropped just one set to reach the quarter-finals of the 2012 World Championship, but was then involved in two of the best games ever witnessed at the event.

James Wade took the game into a deciding set and the players broke each other's throws twice to require a sudden-death leg, which he managed to win by taking out 85 with Part on 40.

Lewis pulled a set back, before James Wade had a dart at double 18 to win the match.

James Wade gained automatic entry for the Premier League due to his Order of Merit ranking.

James Wade lost his first three matches, before winning the next three and went into the final game of the season knowing a win over Raymond van Barneveld would guarantee him a spot in the play-offs.

James Wade beat Richie Burnett, Mark Walsh, Michael van Gerwen and Terry Jenkins to reach his fifth World Matchplay final and his fourth against Phil Taylor.

However, during his first round defeat to Colin Osborne in the World Grand Prix, James Wade appeared visibly unsettled and immediately flew back home to receive treatment for bipolar disorder, with which he was diagnosed in 2010.

James Wade released a statement to thank fans for their support and did not play again until the Grand Slam of Darts, where he finished third in his group following one win and two defeats.

James Wade played in six of the eight UK Open Qualifiers but could not advance beyond the last 16 in any of them to finish a lowly 61st on the Order of Merit, which meant he would enter the UK Open itself in the preliminary round.

James Wade had six comfortable wins to advance to the quarter-finals.

James Wade told me afterwards that he just gave up.

James Wade, whose ranking has now dropped to world number six, stated that he wanted to prove that he should be back in the top four.

Early on in the semi-final his opponent Taylor threw a broken flight from the stage, with James Wade then asking for it back before complaining to match officials.

James Wade rode his luck at the 2014 World Championship as Darren Webster missed six match darts in the first round and Andy Smith missed two in the second.

James Wade said he didn't ask to be left out and didn't decline an invitation, and that, with regards the reason given by Hearn that he could gain treatment for his bipolar disorder, "no medical professional has suggested I take a break".

James Wade was knocked out in the second round of the European Championship, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.

Whilst at the event James Wade broke the Guinness World Records title for the most darts in the inner and outer bullseyes in one minute with 15.

James Wade suffered early exits at the Masters, the 2017 Premier League Darts, and the World Matchplay, resulting in a decade-low ranking of 10th.

James Wade was beaten in the second round by Daryl Gurney.

James Wade was not involved in the 2018 Premier League Darts for the first time since 2014.

James Wade ended his short stint outside the world's top 10 dart players, making good runs in European tour and players championship events away from the TV screens.

James Wade hit an 8th career 9-darter in a Pro-tour match against Michael Smith.

James Wade dedicated his title and upturn in form to his new-born son, Arthur, stating he was "dangerous" again and that the rest of the field should "look out".

In doing so, James Wade set a new personal record of 12 TV major wins in succession.

James Wade was picked for the 2019 Premier League Darts on the 10-year anniversary of him winning the event.

James Wade followed the win with victories over Joe Cullen in the Quarter-Finals and Peter Wright in the Semi-Finals to set up a final with Michael van Gerwen.

James Wade won Players Championship 9 in Barnsley defeating the likes of Mark Webster, Christian Kist, Peter Hudson, Aaron Monk, Adrian Lewis, Scott Baker and Michael Smith in the final.

James Wade made it a back-to-back double in Barnsley and 3 out of 4, winning Players Championship 12, defeating the likes of Luke Woodhouse, Christian Kist, Ted Evetts, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Michael Smith and Jeffrey de Zwaan in the final.

James Wade won a 4th Players Championship title of the year at Wigan, PC 18, defeating the likes of Benito van de Pas, Yordi Meeuwisse, Keegan Brown, Rowby-John Rodriguez, Callan Rydz, Krzysztof Ratajski, and Jose de Sousa in the final.

James Wade performed well at the inaugural PDC Summer Series, defeating the likes of Jeffrey de Zwaan, Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith, and Rob Cross, en route to winning Players Championship 12 of the year.

James Wade defeated Damon Heta with a 102 average in his opening group stage match at the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts and beat both Jermaine Wattimena and Glen Durrant in his other group stage matches to top his group.

James Wade made his first final at the UK Open since winning the event a decade earlier in 2011, defeating the likes of Ryan Joyce, Rob Cross, Gabriel Clemens, Simon Whitlock and world champion Gerwyn Price en route.

James Wade won his 3rd UK Open title of his career defeating Luke Humphries in the final.

James Wade was originally left out of the 2021 Premier League Darts but ended up replacing Gerwyn Price who tested positive for coronavirus on opening night and subsequently pulled out of the tournament.

James Wade's form improved in the second week of the tournament, hitting 3 consecutive 105 averages in defeating the likes of Peter Wright and Jonny Clayton.

James Wade ultimately finished 6th in the Premier League, defeating Gary Anderson on the final night of the league stage.

James Wade participated in the World Cup of Darts for the first time since 2010 because he was the top ranked darts player in England for the first time in his career, appearing alongside Dave Chisnall.

James Wade reached the Semi-Finals of the 2022 European Darts Open, but he was forced to withdraw from the event due to an illness.

In March, James Wade dropped out of the Top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since 2007.

James Wade was defeated in the final by Peter Wright but subsequently jumped back into the World's Top 16 and qualified for the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts.

Whilst it is somewhat traditional for a darts player to adopt a sobriquet, James Wade has adopted several in his career so far.

In December 2007, following a competition which invited fans to provide him with a new nickname, James Wade briefly became known as Spectacular, a play on the fact that James Wade is one of the few players who wears spectacles when he plays.

James Wade cited his dislike for the insinuations the name lead to and fans asking him to make social appearances after matches.

James Wade became the first player to hit three tournament nine-dart finishes in a calendar year during 2006.

James Wade came within one dart of achieving the first ever nine-darter with a double start at the 2007 World Grand Prix in Dublin.

On 20 November 2008, James 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.

In October 2014, at the World Grand Prix against Robert Thornton, James Wade hit scores of 160,180 and 161 to become the second ever player to throw a double-start nine darter.

James Wade remains the only PDC player to achieve a televised 9 darter for double start and open start formats.

In December 2020, James Wade hit a nine-darter at the World Championships in a third-round game against Stephen Bunting.

James Wade 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.

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

James Wade quit his job at a garage in Aldershot twelve days before the start of the 2006 World Matchplay, becoming a full-time professional darts player.

James Wade dated Soccer AM presenter Helen Chamberlain from 2008 to 2010, but they split after roughly two years together.

On 8 August 2015, James Wade married model Sammi Marsh who he has been in a relationship with since 2013.

James Wade has bipolar disorder and ADHD, and has openly spoken about his experiences with mental health.

James Wade 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.