James Wade proves to be attractive to historic nine-darters: used to be called 009, now mostly a spectator on stage

When a nine-darter is thrown in a televised tournament, there is a good chance James Wade is on the stage. In the 67 perfect legs that have been thrown on TV, Wade has been involved as a player or spectator eleven times.

From December 2006 to October 2007, Wade was nicknamed 009, a nod to James Bond's 007. The left-handed darter had thrown three nine-darters in a short time in 2006.

Read also

VIDEO: Price makes history with two nine-darters in one night in Belfast

These days, however, Wade continues to be on the other end of nine-darters. Eight times already The Machine stood in the front row to watch an opponent throw a perfect leg against him on television. Moreover, they are often historic nine-darters in which Wade is involved as an opponent.

Mervyn King became the first player to throw a TV nine-darter outside Europe at the South African Masters in 2009. The opponent? You probably guessed it; James Wade.

In May 2010 Wade saw his opponent Phil Taylor produce two perfect legs in the final of the Premier League Darts. The Power is still the only player ever to have thrown two legs in nine darts in a single televised match.

A year later, The Machine was involved in another special nine-darter. Brendan Dolan threw the first perfect leg at the World Grand Prix against him. At this tournament the players also need to start the legs with a double.

In December 2012, during the 2013 PDC World Darts Championship, Michael van Gerwen threw a nine-darter against Wade. The Englishman almost witnessed another historic moment, because in the next leg Van Gerwen missed the double 12 for a back-to-back nine-dart finish.

History was made once again during the 2014 World Grand Prix. In the second round of that tournament, Wade first hit a perfect leg himself against Robert Thornton. But later in the game, the ten-time major winner had one against him. To date, that match is still the only one ever in which both players threw a nine-darter.

In 2016, Wade witnessed a perfect leg from Adrian Lewis in the Premier League Darts, the first TV nine-darter in Northern Ireland. The Odyssey Arena in Belfast, now known as the SSE Arena, was once again the venue where history was made on 17 February 2022 and of course Wade was once again involved.

Gerwyn Price had thrown a nine darter against Michael van Gerwen in his semi-final during the third week of the 2022 Premier League Darts. In the final against Wade, a second nine-dart finish followed. This made Price the first dart player to hit two perfect legs in two different matches on television on the same day.