Wright reveals he is ready to end World Cup exodus
Peter Wright is prepared to make a return to the Betway World Cup of Darts in June — a year after making himself unavailable for selection.
The Mendham-based thrower missed out on playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) international tournament last year, after ruling himself out of selection for the two-man Scotland team.
In 2015 Wright and his fellow Scot, Gary Anderson, went all the way to the final of the event, before narrowly losing out 3-2 to England in the deciding game.
Speaking at the Betway Premier League media day earlier this week, Wright told theExpress he will look to feature in this year’s World Cup, which takes place in Frankfurt, Germany on June 1-4.
“I’ll be looking to play in that this year,” the 46-year-old said. “It was down to my own decision that I didn’t play in it last year.”
Wright got his 2017/18 campaign on the PDC circuit under way at the Unibet Masters last weekend, where he lost 10-5 to 16-time world champion Phil Taylor in the quarter-finals.
In a pre-match interview shown on ITV4 before the two played each other on Sunday afternoon, Taylor backed Wright to one day make it to the top of the rankings.
After climbing to a career-high number three on the PDC Order of Merit in November last year, it is a sentiment which the Scot takes great pride from.
“It was amazing for him to say that,” Wright said. “It’s a long way to go to get there and a lot of hard work.
“But I believe I can do it, I want to be number two by the end of the year, or before the World Championship draw is done (in December).
“That’s what I’m hoping for, but Gary Anderson (world number two) is a very good player. It’s going to be very difficult to do.
“I want to thank my family and friends and all my sponsors, they’ve always stuck by me and believed in me.”
Wright — who has never made the Betway Premier League play-offs — was set to face Jelle Klaasen in his first Premier League game last night (see www.dissexpress.co.uk/sport for report).
