Wright Vows to Rule the World After Matchplay Blow

Peter Wright has vowed to rule the world after he blamed his doubles on missing out on Betfred Matchplay glory.

The Scottish World Cup winner was shattered as his dreams of landing the Blackpool showpiece were ended when Daryl Gurney knocked him out in an epic quarter-final at the Winter Gardens.

Wright was 20 games unbeaten going into Friday's last-eight showdown, but was outgunned by his Northern Irish rival to miss out on one’s the sport’s elite Majors when installed as favourite after the exits of Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson in round two.

Snakebite, though, is determined to regroup immediately and take the globe by storm as he now prepares to head for the Southern Hemisphere.

Wright and his rivals have a trio of World Series events looming in Australia and New Zealand next month and the Scots ace is desperate to stay top of that pile.

Victory in this month’s German Darts Masters in Cologne means he’s the event’s No.1 seed heading Down Under Under and that’s where he intends to stay.

Wright, who won the Melbourne leg of last year’s trip, said: “I think I can win all of those.

“I’m going in there as the No.1 seed, so all the guys have got to try and beat me.

“I said that whoever was going to beat me was going to have to play well and Daryl did just that.

“The standard is so high. You have to play well all the way through a tournament otherwise you will get knocked out, just as I was.”

Wright was philosophical after his Blackpool exit as he preferred to concentrate on the positives.

Despite the defeat, Snakebite produced his tenth consecutive ton-plus average when hitting almost 105 during the Gurney clash.

However, Wright was honest enough to accept that missed doubles at key times proved the difference in the final analysis as he said: “Daryl played consistent all the way, but I missed lots of doubles which let him in.

“That was the only thing wrong, to be honest. Daryl did not lie down and he played fantastic stuff throughout the match, so hats off to him.

“It was just doubles. If I’d hit them, you would be interviewing the winner, so there you go.

“I said I would up my game from the previous round and I managed to do so. There were 29 legs in the game and I averaged close to 105.

“Daryl also upped his game and hit the right shots at the right time. That’s it.”

By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia)