James Wade dropped a huge retirement hint after his first round win at the World Matchplay.
Wade breezed past Winter Gardens debutant Martin Lukeman 10-4 to book his place in the second-round during yesterday's (July 18) evening session. And afterwards he suggested that packing it all in wasn't too far from his mind.
Asked by Live Darts whether he felt more relaxed in his 17th appearance at the Matchplay, the Machine replied: "Not at all, not at all. No, it is what it is, you know. I've got the most beautiful, amazing son in the world and my wife is alright.
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"But no, everything is great at home. All this is is just a little push past what I need to do to retire. You know, with what the PDC have done to enable players like myself to do what we do, the working class boys are never, ever going to get another opportunity like we've had. It's quite a special time and it's quite a special place."
Pressed on those comments and whether he is genuinely considering retirement, Wade added: "It's not far off my friend. It's not far off."
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Those words will come as a shock to followers of the Machine given his impressive recent form. The 39-year-old is currently ranked no.5 in the PDC Order of Merit, having accumulated £569,500 in prize money over the last two years.
Although Wade has been around on the PDC circuit for almost two-decades, he has found a new level to his form over the last few years.
The Aldershot-born thrower has reached the quarter-finals or better of 11 televised events since 2019 (excluding Masters tournaments), including four in this calendar year alone.
His last major win came in the UK Open just over a year ago – his third success in the event. He will be hoping for a big run in Blackpool this week in a tournament where he is a six-time finalist and one-time winner in 2007.
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