"When he has to play well he does": Glen Durrant and Polly James full of praise for resurgent James Wade
PDCFriday, 26 July 2024 at 17:00
James Wade reached the semi-finals of the 2024 World Matchplay and impressed many more than most over the past week in Blackpool. This included Polly James and Glen Durrant on the Love the Darts podcast.
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They were full of praise for Wade and said that with his back against the wall and also amid the narrative of having to prove it, Wade saw it as he didn't need to prove himself due to his accolades but had a real fire in his belly.
"Like he reminded me on stage when I said does he have to prove something to be here as he just nipped in. He said no I'm the third most successful PDC player of all time. I was like ok well there we are then. It's a bit like Michael (van Gerwen)," said Polly James on the Love the Darts Podcast. "Should we have been surprised, I think on this occasion yeah as he just nipped in but before that he played really well in the ProTours to get in. But I think he played brilliantly, he unfortunately lost to Luke Humphries. But was he the better player? A little bit. He had a bigger average, his scoring power was just phenomenal."
"He wasn't talked about coming into this and now the rest of the year depending on how his summer goes let's hope he keeps it up as I quite like James Wade doing James Wade things."
"Does he know who you are yet Glen," quipped Emma Paton after a comment Wade made about the former World Champion and Premier League winner. "Joking aside, James Wade (mispronounced) never surprises me. He hadn't had a great season but one thing about James Wade is, when he has to play well he does. He openly admits he doesn't pick up his darts from one tournament to the next, we were all saying was he going to qualify for the World Matchplay. I think he dug deep, he did exactly what he needed to do. I thought he was terrific. He hit 13 180's (against Ross Smith), we know what's going to come at the back end of the leg. If he starts scoring big as his 140's were incredible even in defeat. So impressed with James Wade.
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