"He absolutely smashed me to bits!" - James Wade full of praise for Luke Littler after 2025 UK Open final demolition

James Wade came up just short on Sunday night in his bid to win the UK Open for the fourth time in his career. In a very one-sided final 'The Machine' had to concede defeat to an unleashed Luke Littler. Nevertheless, afterwards Wade felt positive about being in a major final again.

After a stunning win over Luke Humphries in the afternoon, Wade had impressed in the semifinals by winning 11-2 against Josh Rock with an average of almost one hundred. In the final, however, the 41-year-old Englishman fell short of his best and lost to Littler by the same scoreline, 11-2.

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"This is a great step in the right direction for me," stressed Wade when speaking after the match, having climbed to 12th in the PDC Order of Merit thanks to this run to the final in Minehead. “I played well in the semi-finals, but in the final Luke just blew me away."

Wade is more than 20 years older than Littler. Experience can only play so much of a role against the kind of brilliance produced by the teenage world champion in the final. “I’m the senior dart player, but he absolutely smashed me to bits!" Wade admits honestly. "What can you do against that? He was the far superior player."

As such, Wade is not looking to make any excuses for his defeat in the final, instead paying a warm tribute to Littler. “Fair play to Luke. At the moment, he is comfortably the best or second best dart player in the world,” concludes Wade.

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