James Wade becomes first man to reach stunning pro tour milestone

James Wade made darts history at the Players Championship on Monday afternoon.

Wade defeated world no. 62 Lukas Wenig 6-1 in Leicester and in the process wrote his name into the record books.

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The 42-year-old became the first men’s player to win 1,000 matches on the PDC Pro Darts Circuit.

However, that was as good as it got on Monday for Wade as he suffered a surprise 6-2 defeat to Cristo Reyes.

Reflecting on his milestone, Wade posted on social media: “Afternoon folks. Well that wasn’t the ending I wanted today but on a more positive note this did happen.

“After winning my first game today I became the first and only player to win 1,000 matches in the Players Championships Events.

“What an achievement and I feel really proud of that!! Thank you to all of you who support and follow me. Thank you to Sammi and the boys for always being there and thanks always to my management and sponsors!!

“Have a great Monday and I’ll be back on the oche tomorrow.”

‘The Machine’ broke onto the scene at the age of 14 when he won the Basingstoke Open in 1997.

And during his illustrious career, Wade has won in excess of 20 Players Championship titles.

Premier League snub

But despite Wade’s achievements in the game, he was still overlooked for the 2026 Premier League.

The decision to pass up on Wade, who won the three-month long tournament in 2009, means the experienced darts star hasn’t featured in the competition since 2022.

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Wade has previously spoken of his disappointment at missing out on the 2026 edition.

He even speculated to his wife over whether his weight played a part in a lack of Premier League action this year.

When pressed on whether he was disappointed about the Premier League snub, Wade said: “Of course, there’s only three players that did better than me [in 2025].

“So the statistics and stats don’t lie… I said to my wife, ‘Is it because I’m overweight?’ No, because there’s someone else that’s this size.

“‘Is it because I’m old?’, No, because there’s someone else that’s there, ‘Is it because I’m not great looking?’, No, because there’s some others that are not-so-great looking.

“So it’s just obviously the way I am, I’m quite awkward as a character.

“It’s hard to chew when you have the condition that I have [Bipolar disorder] as it’s a complete kick in the privates and really knocks your confidence.

“It knocks you for six, as there’s no apparent reason why I shouldn’t have been in.

“But as a business, I wasn’t in their model, which is fair enough. But for someone with mental illness, it’s quite hard to chew.”

Wade continued: “It shouldn’t have to be where someone has to pick you.

“It should be where you do enough, and I believe I did enough.

“I did more than anyone else, apart from the top three or four.”