I'M STILL STANDING

Great survivor Wade's rolling with the punches

-  MIKE WALTERS

JAMES WADE has been written off more than a stock car in a demolition derby - but, as his new walk-on song goes, he's still standing.

In the Professional Darts Corporation era, only two players Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have won more than The Machine's 11 TV majors.

He is the great survivor of the circuit, rolling with the punches of bipolar illness and slipping down the rankings before hauling himself back into the top 16.

And yet Wade, 41, is a 100-1 long shot to win the Paddy Power PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace, where he is a four-time semi-finalist, when he faces Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena this afternoon.

Two years ago, he was taken ill at the European Open in Germany with symptoms including a racing heart, dizziness and high blood pressure.