James Wade entertained his fans on April Fools Day by revealing he might play right handed in some legs of high-profile televised darts tournaments after incredible practice results.
The newly-crowned UK Open champion and world number four to pull the wool over the world's eyes when announcing he would be unveiling a surprise Ronnie O'Sullivan style approach on TV screens this summer.
The multiple major champion, who is only the second player after Phil Taylor to win TV titles across three decades, claimed he'd locked himself away after his recent tournament success in order to fulfil a pledge to his sponsors to play with the opposite hand.
The former mechanic, nicknamed the Machine, told Sporting Life Darts: “During the darts the TV camera is always on the left hand side of the player, meaning you can often see the whole shirt of a right hander, where a lefty can be more obscured.
“After the UK Open win, Jewson said that it had been the perfect start to the partnership and the only thing other thing they could ask for is for me to become right handed so the logo can be seen the entire time.
“It got me thinking, so I started practicing and I was really pleasantly surprised at the results – I went from barely being able to hit the board to performing consistently very quickly.
“I probably won’t play entire matches with my right hand, but I will maybe just switch for high profile legs that will appear in highlights and on social media and video clips.
“My aim is to be the first ever player to win a TV Major with both my left and my right hand.”
Great day of practice 🎯 Looking forward to unveiling my new secret weapon and doing my partner @Jewson proud in the process! pic.twitter.com/BO91j8fxTY
— James Wade (@JamesWade180) April 1, 2021
Jewson Head of Marketing Gareth Drew said: “James is a fantastic ambassador for us and as a tradesman himself he really connects to our customer base.
“Our mission it to make builders more money by removing all the hassle – and that what it’s like dealing with James.
“We happened to mention that it was a shame he wasn’t right-handed and the next thing we knew he was in practice and honing his skills with his other arm. We are fully backing him to be the first player to win as both a lefty and a righty!”
After the 'April Fool' reveal at midday, Wade added: "It was great fun to do. Thanks to the guys at Sporting Life for helping me to make it look even more realistic as a story and hopefully brightening the day for a few sports fans."
James Wade career major titles as a left hander
- World Matchplay: 2007
- UK Open x3: 2008, 2011, 2021
- Premier League: 2009
- World Grand Prix x2: 2007, 2010
- Championship League: 2010
- The Masters: 2014
- European Championship 2018
🏆 2008
— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) March 7, 2021
🏆 2011
🏆 2021
🇬🇧🎯 James Wade's third UK Open title brings up the 10th PDC major of his glittering career and he's now 4th in the world rankings.
😲 To think he's not in the Premier League!pic.twitter.com/jkskdFdzzF
