I MIGHT NEED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL
I HAVE recently thought that a 10-year-old could beat me – and that would literally be the case if that kid was Owen Bryceland.
If people are still shouting ‘you’ve got school in the morning’ at Luke Littler, they’ll be shouting about pre-school to young Owen.
He is another one busting all records. His average of more than 104 on the Foundation Tour this week is an incredible achievement at his age. Well done, Owen. Keep it up!
The less we talk about the Players Championships this week, the better.
I have just returned from two days of playing in Leicester. For the first time in many years, I suffered two first-round exits. If I was physically able to kick myself, I would.
Right now, my practice game is not translating to the floor. I am having too many spells where I suffer a dip in form during matches.
The only positive is that the tournaments keep coming. We are back on the European Tour in Riesa, Germany, this weekend. I really need to start winning.
Sometimes it is nice to get back on the proverbial horse, though, and I am confident that I will turn things around.
The top four is taking shape in the Premier League.
You would expect Luke Humphries and Littler to make it past the first round tonight in their respective matches against Peter Wright and Rob Cross.
But there’s two real coin-flip matches in Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen v Nathan Aspinall.
All four of them have shown glimpses of their real top form of late, so they are incredibly tough to call.
■ JAMES WADE’S column is sponsored by elitecompetitions.co.uk – use code WADE25 for 25 per cent off tickets.