"I wanted to change my walk-on tune but I wasn't allowed" - Peter Wright denied totally fresh start for 2025

Peter Wright came through a thriller in the opening round of the 2025 PDC Winmau World Masters. 'Snakebite' overcame Dutchman Kevin Doets 3-2 on Thursday night and will now take on Stephen Bunting in the last 16.

For Peter Wright, 2024 was a year to quickly forget. The two-time former world champion may have won the German Darts Championship on the European Tour, but in most of the other tournaments it was often a major disappointment. Wright did not win a single major TV title and dropped out of the top 10 in the world rankings as a result. As such, many people have openly questioned if the Scot's best years were behind him. At the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship though, Wright showed signs of improvement with a handsome win in the fourth round against reigning world champion Luke Humphries. Taking this win over Doets into account, a Wright resurgence does seem to be on the way.

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"I feel really good. I am doing new stuff since getting beaten by Stephen Bunting at the Worlds, doing lots of new stuff and I’m enjoying darts now," he said post-match. “I have got a new buzz. I don’t know what it is, but I feel good and that I can only get better. I feel it’s up to me how good I can get, as long as I don’t look in the mirror because when it comes to March, I am 55. But inside I feel like I am 21, so I feel like that playing darts, then everyone is in trouble."

Peter Wright takes on Stephen Bunting at the last sixteen

The selection for the Premier League Darts seemed to spark more controversy than normal this year. Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price were selected despite a quieter year, major winners Mike De Decker and Richie Edhouse were left out, as were Premier League Darts stalwarts Wright and Michael Smith.

“It was a big relief, to be honest [not to be in Premier League]. Hand on heart going that’s brilliant, I can prepare for each tournament now instead of just running into each tournament, don’t know where my game is, getting smashed by the best players in the world in different venues all over the country," Wright assesses. "Now I can prepare for each tournament and it’s only my fault if I lose because I haven’t prepared properly.”

As a sign of his 'new year new start' attitude, Wright even wanted to change his traditional walk-on song for 2025. "Just seen myself up there, big fat fucker," said Wright, before correcting himself: "Fellow! Big fat fellow jumping across the stage. It's like, you know, I've got to lose a bit of weight. I wanted to change my walk-on tune but I wasn't allowed."

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