‘I've done enough for them' – James Wade snubs major darts event for trip to Disneyland after ‘disrespectful' row

The Sun

a day ago

JAMES WADE chose Disneyland Paris with his family over the Australian Darts Masters.
Stars such as Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and reigning champion Gerwyn Price are set for the Darts Oceanic double-header.
3
3
But the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall will not play in the 16-man tournament or the second in New Zealand next weekend.
Neither will Wade - because the 42-year-old took a trip to Disneyland with his wife and family.
He wrote on Facebook: 'Morning all, we have had the best family holiday away at Disneyland Paris.
"Thanks for such a great time!! We all loved it and it was very well needed to spend some quality time with the family. Also got to wear my new bag."
Wade, who showed off his Donald Duck bag, confirmed he turned down an invitation from the PDC for the first time.
He told Dartsnews: "I'd already booked a family holiday.
'As much as I want to go to Australia, I'm going to Disneyland Paris instead. I won't put darts before my family.
'But for the last 20 years, I have put the PDC before James, before my family, and before relatives. I've done enough for them, I think.'
Wade's PDC snub comes after he was accused of being 'disrespectful' following his World Matchplay final defeat to Luke Littler.
The World No.5 lost 18-13 to the teen sensation Littler - who became the youngest champion in the tournament's history.
Luke Littler in fiery reaction to crowd during Australian Darts Masters win over Damon Heta
Wade slipped quietly off the oche following their bout as Littler soaked up the spotlight solo.
Sky Sports pundits Michael Bridge and Chris Murphy took aim at Wade for his actions in Blackpool.
Bridge said: 'I got it clarified that there were no issues with Luke or the crowd or anything like that.
'He was just angry at himself, which is fine, but we would have liked to have heard from him.'
Murphy added: 'I thought it was disrespectful for him not to be on the stage at the end.
'Whether he does an interview or not is up to him, but not to be there when Luke is receiving the trophy, that is disrespectful.
'Just stand there for a minute and applaud, and then say, 'I don't want to talk.' There's a serious side with James of course.
'We know about his mental health and his mental illnesses that he suffers with and that he's trying to combat all the time.
'But I think he maybe needs a little bit of guidance and support with that.
'If he's not up to doing a press conference straight after a match, maybe he should be approaching the PDC and asking about facilitating his press conference when he returns for the next round in a better frame of mind.'
3