James Wade doesn't want to know World Darts `Championship draw: "A superstition I've developed over the years"

James Wade knows he must be in action at the World Darts Championship on Monday, Dec. 16, but 'The Machine' does not yet know who his opponent will be. The Englishman hopes to find out as late as possible.

"The draw for the World Darts Championships has been completed…and I hope I don’t find out who I am playing for as long as possible." Wade wrote in his column for Daily Star.

"That is the way I prefer it, not knowing who I am going to be coming up against. It has always been like that for me, a superstition I suppose I have developed over the years."

Wade's last official preparation for the World Darts Championship did not go smoothly. In the first round of the Players Championship Finals, the left-handed dart player let Stephen Burton surprise him. ''The PDC Players Championship Finals at Butlins Minehead this past weekend was not a happy holiday for me and to be honest, I was pretty poor in my performance when I went out in Friday’s first round.

"That is not to take anything away from my opponent, Stephen Burton, who deserved to go through and unfortunately for me, it is what it is. The only comfort I can take is that I was not the only top 32 player who took an early bath; I joined a few others who were feeling a little washed up at the seaside."

Wade did notice that Luke Humphries eventually took the title in Minehead by dealing with Luke Littler in the final.

"For the two Lukes, it obviously wasn’t too much of a distraction. As he did in last year’s World final, Humphries came out on top against Littler and fair play to him for that, it is no mean feat beating the young man at this moment.

"Just like Littler, Humphries is young, hungry and fresh - and he just loves playing darts. He is also a very calculated player, who is in good form and, by the looks of it in Minehead, he is ready to defend his world crown."