James Wade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| James Wade | ||
|---|---|---|
| Personal information | ||
| Nickname | 009 | |
| Date of birth | April 06, 1983 (age 24) | |
| Place of birth | Aldershot,  |
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| Home town | Aldershot, |
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| Darts information | ||
| Playing darts since | 2001 | |
| Darts | 20g Unicorn James Wade | |
| Organisation | ||
| BDO | 2001 to 2004 | |
| PDC | 2004 to present | |
| Current World Ranking | 11 | |
| BDO Grand Slam Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | 2nd Round 2004 | |
| World Darts Trophy | 2nd Round 2003 | |
| Int. Darts League | QF 2004 | |
| PDC Televised Events - Best Performances | ||
| World Ch'ship | Last 16, 2007 | |
| World Matchplay | Runner up 2006 | |
| World Grand Prix | QF 2006 | |
| UK Open | Last 16, 2005 | |
| Desert Classic | Last 16, 2005 | |
| Other Tournament Wins | ||
| Tournament | Years | |
| UK Open NW Regional Swiss Open |
2007 2002 |
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| Other Achievements | ||
| 2006 PDC Young Player of the Year 2006 Three Nine dart finishes during a calendar year (a record) |
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Infobox last updated on: February 22, 2007. |
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James Wade (born 6 April 1983 in Aldershot, Hampshire) is an English darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation. He is nicknamed 009, a take on James Bond's 007.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Wade reached the final of the British Classic in 2001 at the age of just 18, losing to John Walton but the following year he won the Swiss Open and then made his television debut at the 2003 Lakeside World Championship, but lost 2-3 in the first round to Dennis Harbour. In other BDO Open events during 2003, he reached the Norway Open final, Belgian Open semi-finals and Dutch Open quarter finals.
At the 2004 Lakeside World Championship, he beat Shaun Greatbatch 3-0 in the first round, before losing to Darryl Fitton in the second round. Later in 2004, he reached a series of quarter-finals including the German Open, the Isle of Man Open and the prestigious International Darts League in May - which would be his last tournament as a BDO affiliated player.
[edit] PDC switch
In May 2004, despite having qualified for the final stages of many BDO tournaments, Wade took the decision to forfeit his automatic place in the 2004 World Darts Trophy and 2005 BDO World Championship to join the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) and the PDC circuit.
He made his PDC World Championship début in 2005, losing in the first round to Mark Holden. He bounced back from this to win the Irish Masters in February and reach the last 16 of the UK Open later that year. He also qualified for the Las Vegas Desert Classic (beating the experienced Ronnie Baxter) and the World Grand Prix during the year as well. He also qualified for the 2006 World Championship, losing again in the first round, this time 3-2 to Wayne Jones, who would go on to reach the semi-finals, despite having won the first six legs for a two-set lead.
[edit] Major breakthrough
He made his major breakthrough on television during the 2006 Stan James World Matchplay in July in Blackpool. In the prestigious tournament, he sensationally reached the final, beating four experienced and respected darts players, in his first ever appearance at the Winter Gardens. He cruised past Dennis Ovens in the first round 10-1, having had darts to make it a 10-0 whitewash. In the second round he impressively beat then-World No. 7 and former World Championship finalist Kevin Painter 13-9, ending one leg with two double-20s to cause a minor controversy, and thrashed Chris Mason 16-4 with a classy performance in his quarter-final. In the semi-finals he faced experienced Dutchman Roland Scholten and despite going 5-1 down at one point he recovered to claim a famous 19-17 victory in the tiebreaker, which requires the winner to win by two clear legs. In the final he played Phil Taylor but despite being 8-3 up,he lost an entertaining final 18-11.
During his World Matchplay campaign, in particular his demolition of Mason, he showed huge promise, scoring big regularly and a fantastic checkout rate, including a few ton-plus finishes. Twelve days before the World Matchplay 2006, he quit his old job as a mechanic to turn professional.
[edit] Nine dart finishes
He became the first player to hit three tournament nine-dart finishes in a calendar year during 2006. They came at the North-West UK Open Regional Final in March, the PDPA Players Championship at Hayling Island in June and he completed his hat-trick at the Vauxhall Men's Open in November.
This achievement was the catalyst for him changing his nickname from The Gladiator to 009 which he used for the first time at the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship - it was a play on his nine-darters and the James Bond sobriquet 007.
[edit] Recent form
Wade reached the last 16 of the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship losing to Terry Jenkins having earlier beaten New Zealand qualifier Warren French and Dave Ladley in round two. His form hasn't quite reached the levels he showed at the World Matchplay in July 2006 which helped him achieve the award of "Young Player of the Year" at the PDPA awards in January 2007.
After the World Championship, he reached the quarter-finals of the North-East Regional final of the UK Open in January and lost to Dennis Priestley in the final of the South-West Regional. His world ranking has now reached the fringes of the top ten.
