"Maybe I feel a bit sad, despondent, a little bit rejected as a person": James Wade calls out Premier League Darts snub again amid ProTour title win
PDCWednesday, 11 February 2026 at 09:35
James Wade has made a superb start to the new Players Championship season. The 42-year-old Englishman claimed Players Championship 1 in Hildesheim on Monday, edging Nathan Aspinall 8-6 in a thrilling final.
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It was Wade’s first title of 2026 and the twelfth Players Championship trophy of his career. Afterwards, he also revisited his omission from the 2026 Premier League Darts, a wound that still stings.
Last year Wade won the nineteenth Players Championship of the season, this time he struck at the very first tournament of the new campaign.
Long and grueling day
The seasoned 42-year-old endured a long, grueling day in which he had to dig deep several times. Wade began his tournament with four consecutive matches that all went to a deciding leg, including wins over Karel Sedlacek and Alexander Merkx. He then showed he could also win convincingly by beating Jeffrey De Graaf 6-1.
In the last 16, ‘The Machine’ saw off Austria’s number one Mensur Suljovic (6-3), before a true thriller followed against Joe Cullen. That tie also went the distance, but Wade kept his nerve to book a place in the semi-finals.
Awaiting him there was none other than Michael van Gerwen. Wade trailed 6-5, but turned the match around in impressive fashion. With checkouts of 104, 127, 130 and even 137, he won two legs on the spin to reach his first ProTour final since June 2025.
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“I should have been in front way before and should have got it over and done with way before. I just thought, ‘Oh my God.’ But the 130 and the 104 were really incredible. But honestly, if you look at floor tournaments all day, those finishes go every day, all day. You’ll probably see two of those every time. It’s not the streaming boards you see at all. But yeah, happy.”
The final against Nathan Aspinall started sluggishly for Wade. Aspinall won five of the first eight legs to lead 5-3. Despite an average two points lower than his opponent’s, Wade kept battling. With five 180s and a blistering late surge, he completely flipped the script. Wade rattled off four legs in a row in just 41 darts and sealed the deal with a tidy 16-darter to close out an 8-6 victory and secure the £15,000 top prize.
“Against Nathan, the first four legs he just absolutely pummeled me. Yeah, I just kept going. I just had nothing to give, did I? I had nothing to give. Flat as a pancake. Yeah, but, you know, quite happy. This is me happy.”
James Wade was crowned champion in the opening ProTour.
The Englishman admitted it was tough physically and mentally. “That final shouldn’t have lasted much longer. I didn’t want to go to that last leg. I shouldn’t have gone to the last leg because I should have had a pop at it. But, you know, just bloody happy.”
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For Wade, this is already the twelfth title of his career at the Players Championship. ‘The Machine’ has been operating at the top level for over twenty years and has seen the standard evolve over time.
“Honestly, if you look at floor tournaments all day, the level is unbelievably high. You can barely afford a dip because it gets punished straight away.”
Omission from Premier League Darts
Wade finally circled back to his omission from the 2026 Premier League Darts. Despite two major finals last year, he still missed out.
“Of course I should have been in it. But the PDC and Sky have picked players that represent the game in the best way, shape and form. And what a team they’ve put forward. I would have been better than some of them, but it is what it is.”
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Asked whether the snub had fuelled him further, Wade was candid.
“Not really. Maybe I feel a bit sad, despondent, a little bit rejected as a person. But there are probably ten people out there who feel exactly the same. So it is what it is. Do I deserve to be in it? Yes. Was I in it? No.”
This title also pays dividends for Wade in the world rankings, as he leapfrogs the likes of Josh Rock and Danny Noppert towards eighth place, closing in on number seven Stephen Bunting. Wade, incidentally, is chasing back-to-back titles today. The second Players Championship of the year takes place this afternoon in Hildesheim.
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Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
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- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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