James Wade closed out the final match of Wednesday’s session at the Winter Garden with an 11-8 win over Ryan Searle, a result that sends the veteran into the World Matchplay darts quarter-finals for the fourteenth time in his career.
Searle, the eleventh seed, was never in front over the course of the match, but that scoreline understates how close he came to derailing Wade’s evening. ‘Heavy metal’ clawed his way back from behind on repeated occasions to level the match at 5-5, refusing to let Wade pull clear. Even in the closing stages, Searle kept coming. A maximum and a finish on double four dragged the score to 10-8 as he searched for a way back into the tie.
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But Wade would not be denied, holding his own throw in the nineteenth and final leg, finding double 12 to close out the win and end Searle’s resistance.
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Wade cut a typically candid figure in his post-match press conference, downplaying suggestions that his reaction on stage had been an emotional one.
“Not emotional. Very elated,” he said. “I didn’t play very well, but I did enough. Elated and emotional are two different things, I believe.”
When told he had in fact averaged just shy of a ton for the match, Wade seemed genuinely surprised: “Really? Oh, I played all right then!”
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The win sets up a quarter-final against Gian van Veen, a repeat of the pair’s meeting at the same stage in Blackpool last year, which Wade won. Though he was quick to wave away any suggestion that history would count for much.
“There’s no psychological advantage,” he insisted. “He’s a great darts player.”
The Betfred World Matchplay quarter-finals begin on Thursday, as reigning champion Luke Littler continues his defence of the Phil Taylor Trophy against last year’s semi-finalist Josh Rock.
The evening’s opener will see 2018 champion Gary Anderson take on Dirk van Duijvenbode, who dumped out three-time winner Michael van Gerwen to reach his second Blackpool quarter-final.
The Betfred World Matchplay is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN, CANAL+ and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
Click here for match stats & results.
2026 Betfred World Matchplay
Wednesday July 22
Round Two x4
Ross Smith w/o (Cameron Menzies withdrew due to illness)
Gian van Veen 14-12 Wessel Nijman
Gerwyn Price 11-5 Rob Cross
James Wade 11-8 Ryan Searle
Thursday July 23 (2000 BST *)
Quarter-Finals x2
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gary Anderson
Luke Littler v Josh Rock
Best of 31 Legs
Friday July 24 (2000 BST *)
Quarter-Finals x2
Ross Smith v Gerwyn Price
Gian van Veen v James Wade
Best of 31 Legs
* For the evenings session on July 23-26, Sky Sports will be on air from 1930 BST, with play commencing from approximately 2005 BST.
Images: PDC / T Lanning
