James Wade said he was “disheartened” after Mickey Mansell declined to respond to a frosty handshake following Wade’s 6-3 victory at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
Wade, aiming to avoid an early exit like Rob Cross, Dave Chisnall, Jonny Clayton and Mike De Decker, produced two ton-plus checkouts and hit 50% of his doubles to see off the 52-year-old Northern Irishman. After the match Wade offered his hand and waited for eye contact, but Mansell did not acknowledge him, leaving Wade puzzled.
“The Machine” described Mansell as a difficult opponent because of his slow, methodical tempo. Wade told reporters: “I shook his hand, said ‘best of luck’ and all that stuff but he wouldn’t give it back to me and I was a little bit disheartened to be fair but it is what it is.”
Wade will meet either Joe Cullen or Peter Wright in the second round on Saturday.
Off the board, Wade was upbeat about the PDC confirming a £1m winner’s prize for the 2026 World Championship at Alexandra Palace. He recalled Barry Hearn’s long-standing promise and praised Matchroom’s role in growing the sport. “I remember Barry — we were in South Africa in excess of 15 years ago — and he said ‘World Championship, £1m to the winner’ and I was like ‘Oh, okay,'” Wade said. He added that Hearn has done “amazing” work for darts.
Earlier this year Wade ended a near three-year wait for a PDC ranking title by winning Players Championship 19 in Leicester, beating Scott Williams 8-3 with a 101.52 average. The victory moved him back into the world’s top eight and represented a milestone after a period in which illness had affected his form. “I’m really, really happy. It’s been a difficult few years for me,” he said, reflecting on dropping from world No.3 to outside the top 20 before his return.
Wade also reached the World Matchplay final in Blackpool in July, losing 18-13 to Luke Littler, but later beat the teenager at the European Championship in Dortmund in October.