22 Facts About James Wade

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

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

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

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

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. 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.

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

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

13. 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.

14. 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.

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

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

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. James Wade started his career in the British Darts Organisation in 2001 before joining the Professional Dart Corporation (PDC) in 2004.

21. James Wade has had a career-high ranking of second in the PDC Order of Merit.

22. James Wade became the youngest player to win a major PDC title at the World Matchplay in 2007, at the age of 24.