WADE STUNS ANDERSON IN WORLD MASTERS THRILLER

By Phil Lanning

JAMES WADE KO’d Gary Anderson from the World Masters – and then dubbed him the second best darts player ever.

In an old school reunion of the greats, The Machine came from 2-0 down to beat Ando 4-3 in Milton Keynes.

Wade, 42, upped his game dramatically after a slow start and will now face Gian Van Veen in the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon.

He said: “It was just a scrap, wasn’t it? Hard work, hard battle, just fortunate enough to come outside and be the one that’s got the W.

“As I’m going to say again, when he’s at his absolute prime, second best dart player ever to walk the planet.

“I still think some of the younger people surrounded by the game, they forget what other players have done.

“We’ve been doing it for 20 years, so naive comments and naive structure.

“I’d rather play one of the younger players because you know, we can all harp on about it, but we all know what Gary Anderson’s done. He’s done more than any of the younger players.

“When he’s on his game, he’s electrifying and he’s pretty amazing. I think today in the world of darts, we’ve got casual fans, new fans, that aren’t quite aware of what people like Gary Anderson did and he’s still doing as well. Very, very overlooked, Gary.

“It’s just nice to be part of the game and part and parcel and fit in a little bit. It’s hard to comment because I believe some of the older players don’t perhaps get the rub of the field because they’re not as fashionable.

“I’ve [just] played probably one of the greatest darts players. Not at his best, clearly, but I’ve done alright as well.

“As I say, naivety is the essence of a lot of people around darts at the moment because we’ve got casual fans or people who have been fans for the last two or three years.

“The most enjoyable thing is people have been around darts for 10, 15 years. They know what people like Gary Anderson have done and without people like that, we wouldn’t be where we are and those people wouldn’t be asking questions.

“I’m just grateful to be part of it. I can’t be as cuddly as all the other dart players, but I’m just grateful to be here and I’m kind of enjoying it again, I think.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.