I’m so sorry says troubled Wade
JAMES WADE has apologised for his crass “intimidation” of Seigo Asada and revealed his ongoing battle against mental health issues was behind the outburst.
But Wade’s begging for forgiveness has not prevented his behaviour from being referred to disciplinary hawks at the Darts Regulation Authority.
The ‘Machine’ survived a white-knuckle ride against ‘Ninja’ Asada before scraping home 3-2 in a late-night thriller at the William Hill PDC World Championship on Wednesday.
But the No9 seed disfigured his gritty display with his excessive celebration after levelling the contest at 1-1, invading Asada’s personal space with a sudden, manic, double-fisted gesture that startled the Japanese underdog.
Wade exacerbated the problem by claiming he did it “for my son and my country” in a toe-curling post-match TV interview with a breathtaking lack of self-awareness.
And as social media delivered its withering verdict, Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle branded his behaviour “bullying” and “unacceptable”.
Wade issued an apology overnight, saying: “Seigo Asada is a great player and I’d like to say sorry to him, the fans and the PDC.
“Anyone who has followed my professional career will know this was out of character and I’m very disappointed in myself with the way I acted both on stage and in my interviews after the match.
“I was fighting a battle with myself before I even got on the stage due to a hypo-mania episode, which can happen to me at any time, and no one is more upset than I am about what happened. I’d like to apologise again and I hope people can understand how remorseful I am.”
Wade had claimed he was fired up to “win at all costs”, which rarely has a happy ending.
As Justin Pipe discovered last year, after he was accused of deliberately coughing to distract Kiwi qualifier Bernie
Smith, crowds at Alexandra Palace can be an unforgiving bunch.
Pipe was roundly booed as he lost 4-0 to Phil Taylor in his next match and Wade may find his conduct against Asada is held against him.
Luke Humphries, meanwhile, vowed he could become champion after a sizzling 3-1 defeat of No18 seed Stephen Bunting on an afternoon of upsets.
Humphries triumphed 3-1 and secured his victory with a brilliant checkout of 88. He had led 2-0 before 2014 Lakeside world champion Bunting came back, only for the Newbury star to take control again. “A lot of people are saying I can’t, but I can go on and win this,” said qualifier Humphries.
“I’m here to win it, I’m not here to make up the numbers and if I don’t win, it’s not the end of the world. Whatever happens from here, it’s a big stepping-stone. “Stephen played fantastically and came back really well but that 88 was a cracking finish.” Humphries had a top checkout of 142 and smashed in seven 180s to Bunting’s six and will now meet Jonny Clayton or Dimitri van den Bergh in the third round. Steve Beaton, the No20 seed, is also out after he won only two legs while Chris Dobey produced brilliant darts to win 3-0 and set up a Sunday match with Vincent van der Voort.