21 December 2023 , 12:40
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Peter Wright's Premier League place is under threat after his shock defeat at Ally Pally left him facing a tumble down the world rankings.
Two-time champion 'Snakebite' suffered his second consecutive early exit from the Paddy Power PDC World Championship after a dismal 3-0 whitewash against Jim Williams on Wednesday night. Wright, 53, admitted: “To be honest, I don't know what happened. I haven't got a clue.”
Before the tournament, the Suffolk-based Scot was talking optimistically of winning a third title in five years. But after scattering his arrows across the board like a bag of nails falling off the shelf, Wright has now slipped down to No.7 in the provisional PDC order of merit – and the damage could get worse over the next fortnight.
The Premier League travelling circus is partly an invitational event – the top four qualify automatically, with the other four spots selected by Sky Sports and the PDC board – and crowd-pleaser Wright has been an automatic pick since 2014.
And he should still make the cut when the PDC announce the 2024 field early in the New Year. But Wright's form this year, after a series of health issues for Snakebite himself and his wife Jo, has been patchy.
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He admitted: “Maybe it would have been a different game (against Williams) if I'd hit one of the doubles to win the second set. But I didn't feel confident of actually getting it to be honest; it was 'Hopefully I hit it' rather than 'This one's going in.' I just played terribly, and that's it.”
Meanwhile, Williams admitted that it his victory - particularly against the two-time champion was a shock to the system. Asked if he was surprised as to how comfortable his margin of victory was, he replied: "Yeah, it wasn’t comfortable for me if I’m honest but for me yeah I was."
Jim Williams shakes hands with Peter Wright (Getty Images)Who do you think will win the PDC World Championship? Share your predictions in the comments below
Pressed on whether it was tough seeing Wright struggle so much, Williams added: "Yeah, really. It is. I done it a few years ago with Tony O’Shea at Lakeside and yeah it was a similar type of feeling.
"Obviously, you want to try and win but to try and kill the game off and even leg-by-leg, it’s difficult because you’re playing someone you normally watch and you don’t want them to lose.