James Wade could spare himself another winter waiting for a Premier League invitation. Back inside the world's top five after his World Grand Prix semi-final, he has an opportunity to secure the automatic qualification place that would prevent another omission.
The 2009 champion has not appeared in the competition since reaching the semi-finals in 2022. Even UK Open and World Matchplay finals were insufficient to earn him a return this year, but his latest run in Leicester has moved him one position outside the top four.
"He is a certainty for the Premier League now," said DartsNews chief content officer Samuel Gill, who covered the World Grand Prix on site, during the latest DartsNews Podcast. "He is into the top five. He can only go higher, really. He will have that top four in his sights so that the PDC can't do what they've done in recent years and leave him out."
Under the existing selection system, the top four following the World Championship qualify automatically. Wade's fifth place puts him at the front of the chasing pack, although Gerwyn Price's run to the Leicester final strengthened the Welshman's hold on fourth. Wade emerged from the tournament with £686,250 on the two-year Order of Merit, compared with Price's £793,000. The £106,750 difference leaves substantial work to do across the remaining ranking events and Alexandra Palace, with prize money dropping off both players' totals as well as being added.
Wade's absence has been a recurring subject since the podcast's opening episode in February. Host Kieran Wood backed his inclusion then, while pointing to "a bad end to 2025" as the weakness in an otherwise persuasive case. His response began with victory at Players Championship 1 and another UK Open final. Further titles followed at the Australian Darts Masters and Flanders Darts Trophy, the latter ending a wait of more than a decade for European Tour success. By September, co-host and German darts expert Nicolas Gayer was already convinced Wade belonged in the 2027 Premier League field. That discussion also explored his increasingly open interviews and growing connection with supporters, alongside the results strengthening his claim.
Leicester has since added another deep ranking-major run. Wade beat Joe Cullen and Stephen Bunting before sweeping aside world number three Gian van Veen 3-0 in the quarter-finals. Eventual champion Luke Humphries ended his challenge 5-3 in the last four.
"For me, he is a certainty for that, and he has brought himself back into the conversation," Gill continued. "He is playing, in my opinion, the best darts of his career, James Wade. He will pick up a major sooner rather than later. I think he's got more chance than even Gerwyn Price at the moment of picking up a major, given his experience."
Wade's scoring had already prompted a similar discussion after the UK Open. His semi-final against Price in Minehead featured a 105.53 average, eleven 180s in 19 legs and a 167 checkout, before Luke Littler denied him in the final. Littler also beat him in the 2025 UK Open and World Matchplay finals. Wade has repeatedly reached the closing stages of major tournaments during that period, but his most recent ranking-major title remains the 2021 UK Open.
Gill's ambitions for Wade extend beyond a Premier League recall. With the World Championship still missing from his honours list, he would welcome a repeat of the late-season surge that brought Wade the European Championship and World Series of Darts Finals titles in 2018.
"I would love to see him win the big one at the end of the year. For me, that would be amazing," Gill said. "It would just be ironic for James Wade not to win a major for a while, and then, as he did a few years ago where we had the autumn of James Wade, that he will pick up the world title." Gill stopped short of predicting that outcome, adding: "I'm not going to make any bold predictions yet."
Wade's recent Alexandra Palace record presents the biggest obstacle to that ambition. He has lost his opening match at each of the last four World Championships, despite reaching a fourth career semi-final there in 2022. Before returning to London, he has further opportunities to close the ranking gap, beginning with this weekend's Swiss Darts Trophy. Seeded fourth in Basel, he faces Dirk van Duijvenbode or a host-nation qualifier in his opening match, with a possible quarter-final against Michael van Gerwen further along his route. Price's withdrawal from the Swiss event gives Wade a weekend to make ground on the player immediately above him. How much of that opportunity he takes will be the next test of a campaign that could yet leave him choosing his Premier League preparations rather than awaiting an invitation.
