James Wade has claimed that one player currently tearing up the PDC is making darts ‘predictable’.
Wade is the sport’s most successful left-hander, spending 15 years among the world’s elite and winning televised titles across three decades.
The Machine made a blistering start to his PDC career by landing three nine-dart finishes in 2006 and reaching the World Matchplay Final before winning World Matchplay and World Grand Prix titles 12 months later.
Sadly, the man with 10 televised titles – including a UK Open triumph in 2021 – has endured a tricky few years and slumped to 23rd in the world rankings.
That dropoff in form coincided with impressive breakouts from Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.
Wade has now heaped praise on the former by waxing lyrical over his talent on the stage.
James Wade claims Luke Littler makes darts ‘predictable’
The beauty of darts is how unpredictable the sport is. Anyone can beat anyone on their day, and that makes it such an entertaining spectacle for the neutral.
Recently, though, the emergence of Littler onto the PDC circuit has seen the 17-year-old enjoy a rapid rise to stardom, reaching the World Championship final in his debut year and currently topping the Premier League.
Littler earned his third nightly win in Liverpool last week, overcoming boos from the crowd to demolish Rob Cross 6-2 and move five points clear of Humphries.
It’s been a hugely impressive breakout campaign for the teenager who has left everyone in awe of his talent, including Wade, a man who has appeared in the Premier League on 12 occasions.
In his column for the Daily Star, the 41-year-old has claimed Littler is so good at darts he makes the sport ‘predictable’. He wrote: “Once again, Luke Littler was the one producing the goods in that tournament. It is becoming increasingly predictable at the moment.
“It is a tough opening Premier League game for him against Nathan Aspinall – who has got through his quarter-final in six of the last seven weeks – but it feels like it will be tough for the Asp to rain on Littler’s parade.”
Can Luke Littler win in Aberdeen tonight?
Littler faces Nathan Aspinall in Aberdeen tonight. Both players are represented by the same sports management company, ZXF Sports Management, and have enjoyed some fascinating battles on the oche.
Luke ‘The Nuke’ has beaten the Asp in five of their six meetings and it’s hard to look past him making it a sixth win tonight. If he overcomes Aspinall, he’ll play Michael Smith or Peter Wright in the semi-finals.
That is a favourable draw for the teenager, giving him a huge chance to wrap up his fourth nightly win of the tournament in Scotland while showing Wade was right to brand the sport as ‘predictable’ at the moment.