Peter Wright’s confidence about beating Luke Humphries dominated the build-up to the pair’s World Darts Championship fourth-round match on Sunday night. Now, after following up his comments by beating Humphries 4-1 at Alexandra Palace, the two-time champion has tournament favourite Luke Littler in his sights.
Wright blew the world No. 1 away with a remarkable 70 per cent conversion rate on his doubles, which served as the difference in a closely fought contest in legs.
The Scotsman was overwhelmed with emotion after the match, having realised that a third world title was within his reach later this week.
In his press conference, Wright paid his respects to Humphries and admitted he was fortunate they faced off in a best-of-seven set format.
Littler was projected to face Cool Hand in the semi-finals if both players reached that stage, a repeat of last year’s epic final.
However, Wright claimed that no player would have been able to compete with Humphries over a longer set format due to his unmatchable endurance.
“I felt confident anyway playing Luke over this shorter distance,” Wright explained shortly after his awe-inspiring win.
“I said in my interviews that if I didn’t beat him in this round here, he would have retained his title because I don’t think any other player would have got close to him over a longer distance.
“So that was my only chance to beat him here over these shorter sets, and luckily enough, it worked.”
Wright later understandably doubled down on his belief that he could get the better of dart’s modern leading players, like Humphries and Littler.
But the 54-year-old added that that headline pair, in particular, motivate him to persevere on the PDC Tour rather than enter senior competition.
He continued: “It’s always been in my head anyway [that I can win these games].
“I said when I had the Christmas beard the other day that I know I can beat the likes of Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.
“But I also said in my interviews that those two guys inspire me to carry on playing darts; they do. I’m not ready to go to the senior side yet because I know I can still play this game.”
Wright averaged 100.93 throughout his clash with Humphries but stressed that he wasn’t satisfied with his performance.
If he finds another level beyond what he has displayed at Ally Pally so far this winter, Snakebite could prove impossible to stop.
