"I’ve gone from Negative Nelly to Positive Perry!": James Wade left flummoxed by level of play with sudden change of mindset

James Wade reached the World Matchplay quarter-finals for the 14th time in his career on Wednesday night after defeating Ryan Searle 11-8. The experienced Englishman was typically candid afterwards, expressing surprise at his performance and paying tribute to the role his wife continues to play behind the scenes.

The reaction Wade showed on stage had been interpreted as emotion, but he viewed it differently. “Not emotional. Very elated,” he told DartsNews and others in his post-match press conference. “I didn’t play very well, but I did enough. Elated and emotional are two different things, I believe.”

Wade had no idea that he had averaged 99.85 until the figure was put to him during his press conference. “Really?” he responded. “Oh, I played all right then! I thought I was averaging about 90 or 91.”

The statistic immediately changed his assessment of the performance. “I’ve never heard of that! I played all right, then,” Wade joked. “Okay, I’ll restructure my interview! I guess I did enough. I didn’t think I played anything like that, so I’m really happy.”

Wade had felt below his best throughout the contest, but recognised that Searle had given him an opportunity which needed to be taken. “To play someone like him when he isn’t playing well, get away with it and nick a win, I’ll bloody take that every day of the week,” he said.

His mood had transformed by the time the true level of his performance became clear. As Wade put it: “I’ve gone from Negative Nelly to Positive Perry!”

One of the decisive moments came when Wade produced a 143 checkout. The ten-time major winner is accustomed to seeing opponents land damaging finishes against him and was pleased to reverse those roles.

“They do, and they always happen against me, so it was nice,” he said when asked how much such a finish could hurt an opponent.

Wade had already passed up several opportunities to produce a sizeable checkout before taking out the 143. “I hadn’t really threatened anything like that, but when the opportunity came up, I’d already had so many chances to produce one of those finishes,” he explained. “When I hit that one, I thought, ‘Wallop.’”

Searle remained in contention, but Wade felt the finish had pushed his opponent closer to defeat. “It was a nice feeling and I think it pushed him slightly over the edge, even though he wasn’t doing his thing.”

After completing the victory, Wade clasped his hands and looked towards his wife in the crowd. The gesture was his way of recognising the support she provides during both the successful and difficult periods of his career.

“I was thanking my wife for everything she does for me,” he said. “She puts up with me when I’m a tit, when I do silly things, when I don’t toe the line and when I get stressed and stress out the rest of my family.”

Wade believes the strain placed on the families of professional players is often overlooked. Defeats and disappointing performances do not necessarily remain inside the venue, with the frustration frequently carried home. "What people don’t realise about darts players is the stress we put on our families,” he continued. “It’s immense. It’s awful.”

Wade offered a characteristically frank description of life after a poor weekend. “You go home and moan about everything,” he said. “This was wrong, that was wrong, the hotel was wrong, the car was wrong and the flight was wrong.”

His wife has assumed an even greater role since Wade separated from his previous management. “I don’t have management, so my wife is the person who shares that journey with me,” he explained. “I had management until about eight months ago, but they didn’t really look after me. The person who does look after me is my wife.”

The look towards the crowd carried a simple message: “We did it. We did it.”

Wade will meet Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals, repeating the World Matchplay encounter he won in Blackpool in 2025. He dismissed the suggestion that the previous result would give him a psychological advantage. “There’s no psychological advantage,” Wade insisted. “He’s a great darts player. He’s very, very good.”

Van Veen entered the world’s leading group following his run to the 2026 World Championship final, although Wade believes that result has played a considerable part in his current position. “Without the World Championship run, I don’t think he would be where he is,” he said. “But I’m honest and I’ll say it. He’s a quality darts player.”

Van Veen’s 14-12 victory over Wessel Nijman began earlier than scheduled after Cameron Menzies fell ill and was forced to withdraw from the opening match of Wednesday’s session. Wade felt the disruption placed both Dutchmen in a difficult position. “It was really unfair on him and Wessel to have to step forward and play their game as early as they did,” Wade said. “It was a very big distraction.”

After being informed that his quarter-final would take place two days later, Wade replied: “I’ll get the day after first!”

Despite averaging almost 100, Wade does not consider that figure a guarantee of success over the remainder of the tournament. He believes handling difficult matches can prove more valuable than producing the highest average.

“No,” he replied when asked whether 99.85 represented a title-winning level. “I think a 96 average when everybody is struggling wins it more than a 99. But I’m bloody happy. I’ll take that.”

The quarter-finals increase from a race to 11 legs to a race to 16, but Wade rejected the suggestion that the longer format represented a significant step up.

“There’s no step up. I’ve just got to get the mindset right,” he said. “My mindset wasn’t right for this game and I’m really, really lucky that Ryan Searle didn’t do his thing.”

Wade nevertheless carried an underlying confidence throughout the match, adding that “the cards were on the table” and he was probably always going to win. He immediately recognised how unusual that sounded coming from him, joking: “That was very confident for me, wasn’t it? Get up, you beauty!”

Van Veen now stands between Wade and a 15th World Matchplay semi-final, with the 2025 runner-up again moving deep into the tournament where he lifted his first major title 19 years ago.