"I hadn’t seen it from Luke before. I found it rather amusing" - James Wade on his viral reaction to Littler reeling in the big fish at UK Open

James Wade was unable to add another trophy to his cabinet at the recent UK Open. 'The Machine' went down 10-7 in his first match against Luke Littler.

During this match, Littler threw a 170 finish. That finish allowed Littler to break his compatriot again to take a 5-2 lead. The 17-year-old followed this finish with his now trademark celebration, mimicking reeling in a big fish. This led to a comical reaction from "The Machine" that went viral on social media, where it became a meme.

"My reaction to Luke Littler’s 170 ‘fishing cast’ celebration appears to have captured the imagination of ITV, the newspapers and the darting public as a whole. I hadn’t seen it from Luke before. I don’t watch a lot of darts when I’m not playing, so found it rather amusing," Wade told the Daily Star.

Wade also reflected on the entire match. "Although, I will quickly get sick of seeing the face I pulled if people keep sending it to me on WhatsApp! I played well and ‘reeled off’ - see what I did there? - five legs in a row. The start of the game cost me and it was too much to get back. Saying that, if I had won the leg at 7-9, I think there were still a lot of darts in the game."