Defending champion Peter Wright not only brought a Grinch themed outfit to the Alexandra Palace but also an opening victory over Steve West as the first night of the 2020/21 PDC World Darts Championship concludes.
After his elaborate walk-on, it was soon down to business for the defending champion as he took the opening set without reply 3-0 with a 102.5 average.
This continued with the second set continuing to go to script as he failed to drop a leg and looked to be heading towards the third round with ease.
But West finally got off the mark kicking off back-to-back 180's and hitting double 20 for a 13-darter to lead. He doubled his lead with a 72 checkout as he began to settle but was it too little, too late?
Wright would have thought so as he hammered in a 144 checkout to trail 2-1 but West wrapped it up from there to make it 2-1 in sets and potentially embroil Wright in a battle.
'Snakebite' though aimed to return the momentum in his favour as he hit a 101 finish to lead in the opening leg of the fourth set. It did as he hit a 71 checkout to go one away and he concluded proceedings from there to stop the late comeback.
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𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙎
The reigning Champion Peter Wright is on the march again as he seals a 3-1 victory over Steve West!
Those darts at double ten are almost identical to his World Championship winning visit 🤯
Poetry.