‘They weren’t respectful’ – James Wade in rant about darts crowd after beating ‘easily dealt with’ rival

James Wade slammed the Austrian Darts Open crowd as “pretty s****y” after knocking home favourite Mensur Suljovic out of the tournament in Graz.

The Machine delivered a superb performance to seal a 6-2 victory and book his place in round three, averaging an impressive 103.20 while taking out six of his ten attempts at doubles.

Despite being jeered throughout the contest, the world No.6 responded in brilliant fashion, producing three ton-plus finishes to silence the crowd and secure the win.

Wade admitted afterwards that the hostile atmosphere caused him more issues than Suljovic himself.

He said: “Mensur wasn’t the problem, was he? It was the crowd. But yeah, Mensur is easily dealt with and so is the crowd.

“I think it was pretty s****y to be fair, the crowd weren’t respectful. Mensur wasn’t great but the better player out of the two of us won, so it’s all good.”

Asked how popular he believes he is within darts, Wade joked: “More popular than some.

“Probably a little bit more popular than Mensur right now because I’ve just beaten him, so they’ve got to be my fans now, right?”

The Aldershot ace has enjoyed an excellent campaign so far, reaching the UK Open final and also claiming victory at Players Championship One.

Wade also opened up on his increased activity on social media after some fans suggested it could be linked to a potential return to the Premier League.

However, the former Premier League champion insisted his motivations are personal rather than professional.

He explained: “I’m doing it for my children really, for memories.

“I’ve also got something called Bullsite that we’re going to start up again.

“I’m going to start having a bit more fun and not be so serious all the time.

“I’ve got my best friend, Lee Spooner, involved as well, so we’re going to have a lot of fun with it and see where it goes.

“I’m just how I am.

“The most important thing to me is family. The second most important thing to me is family.

“And the third most important thing to me is probably charity and raising awareness for mental health.

“Unfortunately, in the world we live in now, not enough people recognise it and really understand it.

“So that’s my job. That’s what I was put on here to do.”

Wade returns to action on Sunday afternoon, where he will take on Luke Woodhouse for a place in the quarter-finals of the Euro Tour event.