An unprecedented achievement for James Wade, who has reached the final of the World Matchplay for the fifth time in his career.
Tonight, he will face Luke Littler in that final, but at the same time, The Machine might be scratching his head, as he once again became a thief of his own wallet in the semi-final—he’s expected to receive a fine for this incident.
And it’s not the first time he has made headlines for the wrong reasons during this tournament. In the quarter-final against Gian van Veen, a similar situation occurred. That time, however, it wasn’t during the match, but immediately after it.
The Dutchman was almost completely ignored by The Machine, after which the Dutch TV broadcast quickly cut to commercials. A second moment between the two players followed shortly thereafter, during which the misunderstanding was cleared up.
Smart trick by James Wade against Lule Littler and it worked
Although the fine he might receive wasn’t the smartest thing to do, he did have a smart move in the final against Luke Littler. And it even worked as you can see on this footage.
Tonight’s action will likely cost him a fine, and the Englishman won’t be happy about it. In an earlier interview on Saturday, he had already revealed how tight he is with money.
He spoke at length about a recent family outing to a nearby amusement park, which turned out to be a less-than-pleasant experience.
“I’m just the typical dad like everyone else. You pay 57 pounds for ridiculously overpriced fish and chips, and then it’s of terrible quality. So I’m sitting there with my wife and two kids, surrounded by seagulls trying to snatch our food. Then Arthur (James and Sammi’s son) doesn’t want any, and Alfie only eats two fries from his entire tray.”
James Wade describing a family day out at Blackpool Pleasure Beach 🤣 pic.twitter.com/w9hgtljAgO
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) July 26, 2025
So they shouldn’t expect him back anytime soon. “No chance I’ll ever go back there, it was a dreadful day,” said Wade.
Sunday, however, might just be his best day in a long time, as he gets the chance to win the World Matchplay title again after 10 years. To do that, though, he’ll need to get past Luke Littler.