James Wade appears to be hitting form at the perfect time for the World Grand Prix, and according to Polly James and former major winner Paul Nicholson, the experienced Englishman should not be underestimated in Leicester. Speaking on the Love The Darts podcast, the pair discussed Wade's chances at the tournament with its unique double-in, double-out format — a setup that seems tailor-made for a player with 'The Machine's' skill set.
"Wadey this year, last year even, he's just someone that you just can't really bet against, you know," said James. "His scoring power, his doubling, just everything. And when it's on and when he's, you know, in a good mood up for it, I just think, I think he could easily win this."
Nicholson also sees Wade putting together a particularly strong year, pointing to his recent success in Flanders. "When he won in Flanders, I just heard the pens of the commentators drop, as if to say, now we can't write that he hasn't won one of these for 10 years anymore. So 2016 Hamburg, now he's won in Flanders, so that's that one done." Wade also filled a missing piece on the World Series this year, Nicholson noted: "And it has been a very good year, because he's won in Australia, and we talked about how we'd never won in the World Series, so he's ticked that off the list."
That naturally raises the question, Nicholson said, of what comes next — and he no longer casually rules out a world title. "I mean, what's he gonna do next? Win the World's. I mean, we've talked about how the fact he's never gonna win the World's. Well, I think maybe he could now."
For the World Grand Prix, Nicholson expects a deep run from Wade. "I've got him making the final in this tournament, because I think he's ripe for a run. He's won it a couple of times before, and the last time he won it he had motivation, because there was a family bereavement, and he wanted to win for them." Above all, Wade's composure stands out these days. "I think his motivation is thoroughly from his family these days, and for himself. Maybe for the first time. And he's got such a level of calmness about him right now, that I haven't seen in him maybe in all of his career."
