James Wade expertly played up to his pantomime villain role at the European Darts Grand Prix – by pushing rival Dirk van Duijvenbode twice.
Prior to their quarter-final clash in Germany, Wade was speaking with referee Huw Ware over the position of the darts board.
Van Duijvenbode was playing some mind games with Wade ahead of their quarter-final clashX: @OfficialPDC It led to Wade pushing his rival to the delight of the fans in attendanceX: OfficialPDCThe 42-year-old was keen for the board to be straightened, telling Ware to move it to the right before he took to the oche.
Unbeknown to him in the background, Van Duijvenbode was jokingly telling Ware to move the board the other way, ,much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
After realising what his opponent was up to, Wade light-heartedly pushed the Dutchman on the shoulder, leading to a rather theatrical reaction from Van Duijvenbode.
With the crowd laughing and whistling, Van Duijvenbode placed his hand on Wade’s shoulder.
But it led to Wade to lightly push him forward once his back was turned.
Van Duijvenbode immediately turned round and squared up to the three-time UK Open winner.
However it was all in good fun, as the 32-year-old soon broke into laughter, as Wade still looked to get the board into the correct position.
The theatrics between the two darts stars led one PDC commentator to say: “This is probably more fun than a game of darts.
“If they just continue to do this, I’m sure the crowd would have got their money’s worth.”
Meanwhile Paul Nicholson said on commentary: “This is more like a pantomime!
Van Duijvenbode tumbled sideways after being pushed by the EnglishmanX: @OfficialPDC The Dutchman was then lightly shoved in his back moments laterX: OfficialPDC It led to Van Duijvenbode to jokingly square up to the three-time UK Open winnerX:OfficialPDCView Tweet: t.co/YyBPPwoMK8
“In a second, the crowd are going to start seeing left and right.”
The jovial fun between the two players proved to be a talking point on social media, as one X user stated: “This sport is pure comedy at times, nothing like it.”
Another quipped: “Most charisma wades ever shown!”
A third added: “Do you not have spirit levels rather than guessing?”
Once their quarter-final clash started, fans were treated an 11-leg thriller, with Van Duijvenbode edging out a 6-5 victory.
But he would lose in his last-four battle against eventual champion Gary Anderson.
The Scotsman averaged an impressive 106 in his 7-2 victory over Van Duijvenbode, before easing to an 8-0 whitewash win against Andrew Gilding.
In doing so, the two-time world champion has become the first player in European Darts Grand Prix history to successfully retain their title.
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