WRIGHT CONSIDERED WALKING AWAY FROM DARTS

PETER WRIGHT admits he considered RETIRING from darts after a poor run of form. 

‘Snakebite’ rolled back the years as he beat Darius Labanauskas and Cameron Menzies to reach the fifth round of the UK Open. 

The two-time world champion had managed just one win on Tour this year before arriving at Butlin’s, Minehead. 

Wright revealed he contemplated ending his career before tarnishing his legacy at the oche any further. 

He said: “Yeah, I did for a little while. But I like going to the darts.  

“I like seeing my friends and just having a banter and being part of darts that you’ve been all your life. That’s just the way I am.

“It’s horrible when people go, ‘Oh, I want to draw him because he’s playing rubbish.’ 

“It reminds me looking back at poor Glen Durrant, fantastic dart player. The amount of titles he has won. 

“I used to watch him coming into the floor tournaments and think, I hope I don’t go through that.  

“I’m going through it, I admit it. And it’s horrible when people go, ‘Oh, I want to draw him because he’s playing rubbish.’ That’s hard.

“You never think you will go through that. I have dropped out of the top 32.” 

Wright explained he has adopted a new mindset on the big stage and has set himself a target for the season. 

He added: “I used to worry about the averages and winning and stuff like that.  

“But I’ve just started to reason: what other players behind me have won 49 titles, been a two-time world champion, European champion, Matchplay champion and everything else? 

“If I play rubbish that day, I’ll play rubbish that day. But I know I can upset the big names, possibly.  

“It doesn’t mean I’m going to go and win the tournament, but I can put a big name out if I turn up. 

“I want to get to 50 [titles]. That would be nice before I retire. If I can get to 55 titles before I retire, I’ll be happy.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.