Peter Wright's tearful chat with Michael van Gerwen – 'You don't want to do it anymore'
Peter Wright admits a tearful chat with Michael van Gerwen had him doubting whether he could continue playing darts.
Snakebite has suffered a dramatic dip in form since he won his second world title in 2021. The Scotsman has dropped all the way down to 12th in the world rankings, while his performances plummeted so significantly that he only won two matches out of 18 during a hard-to-watch Premier League campaign last year.
Success at the German Darts Championship - where he overcame Luke Littler - was the only high he had to speak about heading into this year’s Paddy Power World Championship.
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Naturally, Wright has not been picked for the Premier League this year. It is his first time missing the annual roadshow for over a decade.
“I’ve sat in the Premier League the past two years, getting battered by these guys and wondering why I'm here, why they picked me and stuff like that,” Wright said. “When I don't seem to perform for the crowd there, it's really strange and it's annoying.
“I was in tears last year and Michael van Gerwen said, ‘you don't want to do it anymore, do you?’ I said I don't know. Maybe I don't, maybe I do, but I'm not going to give up. That's the main thing.”
The motivation for still being on the tour? The Lukes.
Little did Luke Humphries know when he walked out to face Wright in the fourth round at Alexandra Palace this year, he was perhaps the reason he came up against a storm of perfect arrows.
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Wright was near-faultless in the 4-1 win. Humphries was perhaps slightly off his A-game, but with a raucous Alexandra Palace behind him, little was going to stop Wright from producing the upset of the tournament.
“It's always been in my head, I know I can beat the likes of Luke Humphries and Luke Littler,” said Wright. “Those two guys inspire me to carry on playing darts, and they do.
“I’m not ready to go to the senior side yet, because I know I can still play this game. I know I can get better.
”It was last year, it was the World Championship, Luke Humphries and Luke Litter. That final inspired me.
“If you saw my interviews at the beginning of the year, I've said them two guys inspired me to try and practice harder, try different things, try different set-ups to become better. It hasn't worked all year. Until now.”
Wright was visibly emotional after the win over Humphries. As well as battling his own form, Snakebite also had to fight off the challenge of illness. He spluttered through his interview post-match, as he recovered from the highs of the emotions on stage.
“It's just what it means to me, because I’ve probably beat the best player in the tournament,” Wright said. “I knew I had it in me still to compete against the best players in the world.
“That was amazing, that was the best atmosphere. Poor Luke there, I was thinking, oh my god, I'm playing the reigning world champion and this crowd is behind me all the way.
“All I put it down to was Luke wasn't quite on his form as he was last year. He was untouchable last year, 100-plus averages all the time. You didn't want to play Luke last year.
“This year, he's getting wins and getting through with B games, 98s, 99s, something like that. And I thought, if he turns up 98-99, I've got a chance. But if he turned up like the Luke Humphries of last year, he would have bashed me off the park.
“He's such a gentleman. He's a great, great guy. Away from darts. A lovely family man. A fantastic dart player. He had some really kind words to say to me.”
This interview was part of the bumper 56-page darts season preview publication which you can buy right now.
