Darts star James Wade has responded to the video appearing to show him break wind (Picture: Getty)
James Wade has brilliantly ‘put to bed’ suggestions he ‘sharted’ during his Players Championship 22 contest with Callan Rydz after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
As Wade booked his place with a 6-5 victory over Rydz, the 41-year-old was seen bending over and pausing for several seconds before gathering his belongings from the table beside the oche.
At that exact moment, a loud parp could be heard on the live feed of the match, leaving darts fans in hysterics.
The clip of Wade appearing to let rip has since racked up the likes and reposts on X, formerly known as Twitter, with many joking about the windy conditions at the ProTour event at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena.
Gary Anderson, who was himself accused of ‘s***ing himself’ on the oche in 2018, would go on to secure the title, seeing off Wade before defeating Conor Scutt 8-4 in a one-sided final.
Wade, ranked No.18 in the world, had chosen to remain tight-lipped over the ‘sharting’ controversy after his quarter-final clash – but took to X to profess his innocence on Tuesday evening.
‘I feel I must address a situation following my run to the semi-finals of PC22 today,’ Wade wrote along with a gif of Little Britain’s error-prone politician Sir Norman Fry.
‘Footage has emerged of me doing what appears to be a “shart” at the end of one of my matches.
‘It was actually the velcro on my new trainers.
‘I now consider this matter put to bed as don’t wish to talk about it again.’
In a later post, Wade joked that he would be ‘suing’ Live Darts over the circulation of the video.
Wade was pleased with his overall performance at the tournament and asked his supporters to wish him luck ahead of the Swiss Darts Trophy, which kicks off on Friday at Basel’s St Jakobshalle arena.
‘Good Morning, woke up feeling good toady and was happy with my performance yesterday reaching the semi final of PC22,’ he said.
‘Just missed doubles at the wrong time. Overall a good day.
‘Same again today before flying off to Switzerland tomorrow for the Swiss Darts Trophy (ET12) in Basel.
‘As always wish me luck. Thanks to all my sponsors and management.’
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