"He will struggle and he will find things hard. Then we'll really see what he is all about" - James Wade offers advice to Luke Littler after early World Matchplay exit

For the twelfth time in his career, James Wade reached the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay on Tuesday night, ending the reign of Nathan Aspinall in the process, with an 11-8 victory.

"Nathan didn't play how he can so I'm a lucky boy tonight. But the main thing is I'm through and I'm happy to still be in the tournament," reflected 'The Machine' post-match, bullish about his chances for the rest of the week. "I've got nothing to prove; no one has won as many tournament as me apart from Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor."

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In the quarter-finals, Wade will face off against Ross Smith after 'Smudger' backed up his opening round victory over Josh Rock by firing past Gerwyn Price via thirteen 180s in round 2. "I've got to play well, but not every game is flamboyant, not every game is going to be as people believe it will be," he assesses. "We'll see won't we. If I turn up, if I don't and I'm rubbish, I'll be going home."

Now one of the senior figures on the darting scene, Wade, who is in his 19th successive World Matchplay appearance, has seen many players come and go in his two decade long spell amongst the darting elite. The newest star around is undoubtedly Luke Littler. On the 17-year-old's Winter Gardens debut however, 'The Nuke came unstuck in the opening round against Michael van Gerwen, with some calling into question the attitude of Littler during the tie. Wade, who was vocally against including Littler in the Premier League Darts earlier this year, due to fear of burnout for the teenage sensation, again gave his thoughts on the matter.

"Luke is incredible. I didn't even realise the stats. In the first four tournaments he's played on the floor, the Euro Tour, Premier League, he's hit nine darters in all of them!" Wade says with a smile. "Do I believe it will continue? I'm not sure. I agree with Glen Durrant. He said it will either be domination for two years or ten years and I'm not quite sure which one it will be. Let's be honest, Luke's probably earned more money than most dart players in a year, so he doesn't need to play darts now if he's careful with his money."

"So will the magic continue? I hope so, because darts needs someone like him. He's influential, financially viable and a great pull but I'm interested in seeing what he's doing," Wade concludes. "He will have a downturn, 100% it will happen. But what I want to see is, rather than the UK get on his back and give him a hard time, just support him a little bit. He will struggle and he will find things hard and then we'll really see what he is all about. But for what he's done for the game so far, people like me can only be indebted to him."

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