Peter Wright planning fresh assault on PDC world number two spot

Snakebite reached the semi-finals in Blackpool, and things were looking up. But dips in form have restricted Wright to one win in 2019 - a World Cup of Darts success with Gary Anderson. It means that the Scot has fallen to number six in the PDC Order of Merit, behind Michael Smith on countback.

The Matchplay runner-up in 2017 is also under pressure to defend the ranking money earned two years ago. His UK Open winner's pot has already been struck off. Speaking with Live Darts in Las Vegas, Wright was staying positive.

"I'm defending a lot [of money] from two years ago, and that's the only reason I've dropped down to sixth.

"I'll be back up to number two, chasing Michael [van Gerwen] again, by the end of the year.

"That's my target, and my target as well is to stick with a set of darts!"

In Vegas, where he was celebrating his 11th anniversary with wife Jo, commitment was a hot topic for the former UK Open champion. Asked if the darts he threw during the World Cup success with Scotland would remain in his arsenal, Wright was affirmative.

"I am. It's my fault, the last week in Prague - I practiced with different sets of darts.

"And then it's like five minutes before I went on stage, playing Stephen Bunting, I switched to my old ones.

"It's my own fault I lost that match."

After the interview, Wright went on to reach the semi-finals of the US Darts Masters before losing to eventual champion Nathan Aspinall. Next up for the 49-year-old is a first round Matchplay meeting with Vincent van der Voort.