"That was an easy game to win. Only time Adrian's ever beat me on telly as well" - James Wade recalls infamous 'Windgate' World Championship semifinal loss to Lewis
PDC
Arguably the greatest player never to win the World Championship, James Wade begins a 23rd consecutive challenge later this month at the Alexandra Palace. Despite reaching the semi-finals on four separate occasions though, 'The Machine' has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the PDC World Darts Championship.
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"I enjoy it - ish. It's just Christmas though, isn't it? Yeah. I don't want to be playing darts at Christmas," Wade says in conversation with Sky Sports. "I want to be at home. Yeah, it kind of ruins Christmas. You're robbed of Christmas. I've got young children now so I actually do like Christmas. I genuinely do like it. I love seeing their little faces and their little eyes light up. But yeah, it's a kind of ****** time to have it, isn't it?"
Just because he doesn't exactly like it, doesn't mean that Wade can't understand why the World Championship is held over the festive period. "It's obvious why we have it because Christmas is a great time to capture an audience," the 41-year-old notes. "It's a great business model and it's a great idea, and it works really well, but it's not so great for people that have to work around it."
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In Sky's recent Game of Throws: Inside Darts documentary, Wade is open and honest about his battles with bipolar and ADHD and how his diagnoses affect his darts career. "I have good weeks and bad weeks. So I just change like that," he explains. "It's never been my ability or down to my throw. There was one time when my throw went a bit wayward, but it's always down to how I feel and what space I'm in. It's how I am, not the surroundings. If I'm in the wrong place, I'll interpret everything as a negative, everything I don't want to do, everything that's against me."
In a fierce battle ground like the World Darts Championship, that can then lead to issues for the eleven-time PDC major winner. "It is a problem. It takes mind. And my mind... I don't know how many times a year I get it where I have the best part of three weeks with a clear mind without having a little wobble or a meltdown," he continues. "I don't know. I probably can do it. Probably have done it but not very often. I'll have some bad days in there somewhere. That's me."
Wade during his walk on at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship
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Given his eleven major titles and four semi-final appearances, the fact that Wade has never reached a world final is one of the big outliers in darting history. His best chance to date, came against Adrian Lewis back at the 2012 edition, where he eventually lost 6-5 after the infamous 'Windgate' incident. "Adrian Lewis, when he complained about the wind and I did the gentlemanly thing and walked off," Wade recalls. "That was an easy game to win. It's the only time Adrian's ever beat me on telly as well. That was definitely an easy world title. I would have bashed [Andy] Hamilton in the final, I'm sure."
His most recent close call came against Michael Smith in 2022, falling to a 6-3 defeat. "Against Michael Smith, I just went into that and I didn't care," he admits. "When I'm like that, I can't change it. I just didn't care. But then I cared afterwards when I'd lost."
"Probably be a bad thing if I did win it, I think. Because I think I'd jack it in. I don't know why I'm still playing. Well, I know why I'm still playing because I want more money, but I might not be the best world champion if I was to be a world champion. I wouldn't be in a rush to attend everything and do everything," concludes 'The Machine'. "But I'm a little bit of a freak of nature with darts anyway because of how long I've been doing it for. It's only because I wasn't very well a couple of years ago where I did slip outside the top 10. But I think I'm a little bit different in that way anyway. I don't think anything really phases or affects me too much, apart from myself. I think I'm so conscious about myself that I put everything secondary, you know? Just try and make sure I behave and make sure I'm in a good place. It's exhausting at times."
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We asked darts legends John McDonald, Russ Bray, and Huw Ware to put their heads together ahead of this year's World Championship.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026
- Littler lost to crabtree in the youth/junior/whatever you call it. He had no point in being there. He's unfortunately now got to the stage,he feels all he has to do is get on the stage to win. Well,I hope he realises part of his fear factor has gone. Happened to Taylor,then van gerwen,and it's causing him to realise pretty sharp,he isn't unstoppable. It's good for the sport,not 1 single player in my 60 years has ever,or will ever be, unbeatable.rick6725-10-2026
- I think it's great to see Mark Webster looking good,good ladrick6725-10-2026