WADE: “REJECTED AS A PERSON”

JAMES WADE admitted he feels “rejected as a person” after being snubbed for a Premier League place.

The World No11 won the opening Players Championship of the year, beating Nathan Aspinall 8-6 in the final in Hildesheim on Monday evening.

But Wade, 42, then hit out at the PDC and Sky Sports for not selecting him for the 17-week prestigious league event which started last Thursday in Newcastle.

The Machine reached the World Matchplay and UK Open finals last year and two other quarter-finals but didn’t make the league cut.

On winning the ProTour, he said: “It’s irrelevant to the Premier League. This is like kindergarten.

“I built on it and I did enough last year. They are the big boys, playing in front of big crowds. Where the real pressure is. This is like a friendly day out.

“Someone said to me last week ‘should you have been in it (Premier League)’ Of course I should have been in it. But PDC and Sky, they pick players who represent the game in the best shape and form. What a team they have put forward.

“I’d have been better than some of them but it is what it is.

“It made me feel a bit sad, despondent. A little bit rejected as a person. There’s probably 10 people out there who feel exactly the same.

“Do I deserve to be in it, yes. Was I in it, no.”

Wade delivered a strong run in Hildesheim beating Mensur Suljovic, Joe Cullen and Michael van Gerwen on the way to the final.

He added: “I’m bloody happy aren’t I. In the game against Michael van Gerwen, I didn’t feel out of my depth because I wasn’t good enough or not going right. I pipped Michael. I probably should have beaten him a lot easier than I did.

“Then it’s Nathan, the first four legs he pummelled me. I just kept going and it worked.

“I just had nothing to give. Flat as a pancake but quite happy. This is me happy!

“Let’s be honest I didn’t want to go to that last leg. Just bloody happy.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.