Wade puzzled by Smith-Neale after European Championship win: "He was quite weird pre-game, he's quite a vocal young man"

James Wade is through to the Last 16 at the 2021 European Championship where he will now face Michael van Gerwen on Saturday evening.

Wade saw off Adam Smith-Neale but was left puzzled by the former World Master and some of the tactics he employed.

"I'm happy to be fair even though I didn't play very well. Adam (Smith-Neale) was quite weird pre-game, he's quite a vocal young man and I've never spoke to him enough because he's never been involved in my path or my life. He was very confident, very vocal before the game, during the game, up until after the game," said Wade to Online Darts.

"Next time I play him, I'll be a little bit different. A little bit more aggressive and a little bit more business-like."

"He's a phenomenal player, we've seen what we can do. Players like that can't surprise you because you know how good they are but I was average at best. Next time I play him, I'll have a different suit of armour on and I shall make sure I do a different job on him as he exuberates confidence and that quite frustrated me.