'Give me a little bit of a break' urges James Wade on previous drop in form due to health issues after ProTour title

After nearly three years without a PDC ranking title, James Wade finally broke the spell on Thursday night in Leicester. With a dominant victory over Scott Williams in the final of Players Championship 19, 'The Machine' showed that he still belongs to the darting elite.

In the Mattioli Arena, the 41-year-old delivered a true clinic in finishing. With an average of 101.52 and a stunning 88.9% on his doubles (eight out of nine attempts), he left his opponent unable to respond winning 8-3. Three finishes above 100 completed the feat.

“It’s been a bloody long time that is for sure!" said Wade. "I’m really pleased and happy. I felt I have just been lucky the last two games.

The victory marked Wade's first PDC rankings title since November 2022. In recent years, he had slipped from third in the world rankings to outside the top 20, a drop that he said had little to do with his form at the board.

“Everyone forgets I had pancreatitis. It’s a serious health condition and I went from world number three to plummeting down and out of the rankings. I just think everyone takes it for granted their health.

“The public and probably the organisation didn’t realise I was really ill. I went from world number three to 27. It wasn’t because my darting ability disappeared it was because my health disappeared. So give me a little bit of a break!

“Today I felt really proud of myself because I’ve never been a press favourite or an organisation favourite. But you know when I’ve gone against what I’ve gone against, not knowing if I I’m going to play darts again, today is a milestone.

“I’ve put myself under quite a bit of pressure over the last 12 months so today it has been really nice.”

The victory returns Wade to the top eight in the world and proves that he is far from being written off. His ambitions remain undiminished. “I still want to be in the mix. I know I am still good enough to compete with the best players, so I want to keep knocking on the door and upsetting the apple cart!”