2024 has been a strange year in darts as we’ve had shock after shock on the biggest of stages.
Luke Littler came from nowhere to make the World Championship Final at the start of the year, and, from there, the shocks have just kept coming.
Indeed, we’ve seen no fewer than three first-time major winners this year, and the big names haven’t dominated.
| 2024 Major winners | Tournament |
| Luke Humphries | World Championships |
| Stephen Bunting* | Masters |
| Dimitri van den Bergh | UK Open |
| Luke Littler* | Premier League |
| Luke Humphries | World Matchplay |
| Luke Littler | World Series Finals |
| Mike De Decker* | World Grand Prix |
| Ritchie Edhouse* | European Championships |
The last few months have shown that anything is possible on the oche at the moment, and heading into the Grand Slam of Darts, many are wondering who could be the next dark horse to make a charge.
Speaking on the Love the Darts Podcast, Matthew Edgar has been discussing this tournament, and he reckons that James Wade could be in with an outside chance of going all the way at this event.
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James Wade could be the Grand Slam of Darts dark horse
Edgar spoke highly of Wade’s chances at this tournament.
The Sky Sports pundit says that The Machine is playing well at the moment, and he thinks Wade could win his first major since the 2021 UK Open.
“You look at James Wade. For me, he is the outsider of this tournament. Semi-finals recently at the Matchplay, Quarter-finalson the pro tour. And we sort of always hear this narrative spun about James Wade, don’t we?
“In regards to, he’s one of these players that’s not big and flashy and bold in his performance. He just grinds things out. That’s not been James Wade the last three months.
“James Wade has been big, bold and flashy. He’s been hitting 100 plus averages. I think he’s a great outside shot.”
Wade’s form this year
It’s been a long time since Wade was in the PDC winners’ circle, but it could be time for the 41-year-old to pick up more silverware.
Wade has actually never won the Grand Slam. He’s finished as the runner up on three occasions, and he’ll want to add this trophy to his collection.
The former Premier League champion has been improving as the year has gone on. Wade was a last-minute qualifier for the World Matchplay before reaching the semi-finals at the Winter Gardens, while Luke Humphries has called Wade an underestimated player.
| Tournament | James Wade results this year |
| World Championships | Eliminated in 2nd round by Matt Campbell |
| UK Open | Eliminated in 4th round by Luke Littler |
| World Matchplay | Lost in the semi-finals vs Luke Humphries* |
| World Grand Prix | Lost in the quarter-finals vs Mike De Decker* |
| European Championship | Elminated in 2nd round by Jermaine Wattimena |
As the likes of Mike De Decker and Ritchie Edhouse have shown in recent weeks, with a bit of luck and good timing, it is possible to make a serious run in these big tournaments, and Wade may be able to do just that in Wolverhampton next week.
Keep an eye on Wade heading into this tournament.