James Wade ends decade-long European Tour wait with Flanders Darts Trophy win

James Wade won the Flanders Darts Trophy on Sunday, beating Ross Smith 8-4 in Antwerp to claim his first European Tour title in a decade. BBC Sport reported that the 43-year-old Englishman ended a drought stretching back to his victory at the European Darts Matchplay in Hamburg in 2016.

Watch the highlights:

Wade averaged 95.50 and hit five 180s in the final. An opportunity opened when Smith failed to finish 64 on his own throw for a 3-2 lead. Wade subsequently moved 6-3 ahead and completed the victory with a checkout of 16, securing the trophy against his fellow Englishman.

His route through the closing rounds included a 6-0 quarter-final win over Danny Noppert and a 7-4 semi-final victory against Damon Heta. Smith reached the deciding match by edging top seed Gian van Veen 7-6. The BBC noted that world number one Luke Littler and number two Luke Humphries were absent from the tournament.

The official PDC Europe results also record convincing starts for both finalists in Saturday's second round. Wade defeated Jim Long 6-2, while Smith beat Jeffrey de Graaf by the same score. Heta, who later lost to Wade in the semi-finals, had eliminated Michael van Gerwen 6-5 at that stage. The event ran from September 11 to 13 at Antwerp Expo.

Wade collected £35,000 from a total prize fund of £230,000, with £15,000 allocated to the runner-up under PDC Europe's published distribution. The earnings count towards the PDC Order of Merit, the ProTour Order of Merit and the European Tour Order of Merit. The latter determines qualification for the European Championship, giving the Antwerp result significance beyond the trophy itself.

The competition used a knockout format, with matches increasing from best of 11 legs in the first four rounds to best of 13 in the semi-finals and best of 15 in the final. Wade's win added his name to an event honours list that includes Dave Chisnall in 2024 and Littler in 2025, according to PDC Europe's tournament record.