“I’ve got no excuses" - Peter Wright reacts to being dumped out of PDC World Darts Championship by Stephen Bunting

Sadly for Peter Wright, his dream of becoming a three-time world champion is over for another year. Stephen Bunting proved a step too far in the quarter-finals as 'Snakebite' dropped to a 5-2 defeat at the Alexandra Palace, ending his 2025 PDC World Darts Championship campaign.  

Wright just didn't get out of the blocks against Bunting on New Year's Day, struggling to replicate the performance levels he showed in ending the reign of the 2024 world champion Luke Humphries in the last 16. Although Wright showed signs of a fightback towards the end, getting two sets back from 4-0 down to 4-2, it was Bunting who prevailed in the end 5-2, to set up a semi-final showdown with the teenage darting sensation Luke Littler in the semi-finals at the Ally Pally. 

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“I’ve got no excuses. Stephen played better than me and could have put the game to bed earlier, but I managed to get two sets," admitted 'Snakebite' afterwards, happy to give praise to his successful opponent. “I would have liked to give him a better game, but I didn’t. I left myself too much to do."

Although Wright is determined not to look to make excused for his exit, the Scot does admit that his darts weren't flying exactly as he was intending. “I wasn’t playing Stephen up there; I was playing myself and just trying to get the dart to go where it was supposed to go!" the 54-year-old Scot explains honestly. 

Nevertheless, after a disastrous 2024 season, a quarter-final run at the World Darts Championship does give Wright reason to be optimistic heading into a new darting year. “I played well to beat Jermaine [Wattimena] and Luke [Humphries], and I had a good win against Wesley [Plaisier] as well," he assesses. “Wesley was ranked number two on the Challenge Tour, so after the wins I’ve had in this event, I'm gutted to go up and play like that."

“I'm not defending anything at next year’s World Championship," he concludes. “I’ve also got hardly anything to defend apart from the European Championship, so onwards and upwards, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Given his poor season, not many expected Wright to get the call up for the Premier League Darts campaign in 2025. Having reached the quarter-finals at the Ally Pally, defeating Humphries so impressively en route. The question now is, has Wright done enough to get the invite?

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