WRIGHT HITS OUT AT PUNDIT MASON
03/02/2024 By Phil Lanning
PETER WRIGHT issued an apology to Chris Dobey after branding the Masters “Mickey Mouse” and hitting out at ITV pundit Chris Mason.
The double World Champion bit back at former player ‘Mace’ after he suggested that he shouldn’t be in the Premier League line-up.
Wright, 53, lost his opening clash in Cardiff on Thursday night but showed glimpses of his old class in a 10-8 win over Krzysztof Ratajski in the Masters.
He blasted: “I was just shutting Chris Mason up saying that Chris Dobey should be in the Premier League.
“What’s he won? He won a Masters, a Mickey Mouse tournament, that’s all he’s won.
“Has he won a European, has he won a major, a proper major? He hasn’t. He shouldn’t be in the Premier League.
“Yes he was the better player last year. So what? What’s he won. I’ve won two world finals, two World Cups, two Europeans and Matchplay and whatever else.
“I’ve already said I was lucky to get in the Premier League. The reason I got in the Premier League was because of Luke Humphries winning four tournaments.
“It’s not my fault that everyone else couldn’t try and stop him.
“I’m going to start playing darts properly in the Premier League and shut everyone up.”
Wright then clarified his comments on X just a few hours later, saying: “I would like to apologise to Chris Dobey, it wasn’t meant to be a dig at him personally, it was about being picked for the Premier League and the criticism about being pick over Chris Dobey. Not that I know if it was a choice between us or not.”
Wright looked back in great form as he led Ratajski 6-0 at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
However the ‘Polish Eagle’ gave him a scare before he finally got over the line to win 10-8.
Wright will now face Stephen Bunting in Sunday’s quarter-final. He added: “I’m not quite happy on stage, nowhere near. But the mindset is there and I feel more determined.
“I’ll show all these boys up in the backroom who think they should be in the Premier League. Work harder, win stuff.”
WORLD Champion Luke Humphries suffered more fan whistles and another early exit in the Masters.
The World No.1, just 72 hours after an opening defeat in the Premier League to Luke Littler, went down 10-7 to Stephen Bunting.
‘Cool Hand’ was also subjected again to whistles and booing from the crowd as he was going for doubles, as he was in Cardiff on Thursday.
Bunting: “I tried to calm the crowd down at the end. No one wants to win a game like that.”
Nathan Aspinall revealed that he has been subjected to vile abuse which has forced him off social media.
The Asp beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-5 and then blasted: “Some of the abuse I’m getting at the moment, it’s absolutely disgusting. People forget we are human beings.
“I’m going through a rough patch. I am the first to admit I am struggling at the moment. Let me play my game and stop giving me s*** and let me go and concentrate.”
Images by Taylor Lanning.
