Nicholson on Wright in all-time great debate: "I wouldn't put him in the top 10 yet but by the time he has finished his career, I’m sure he will be"

Peter Wright claimed the World Matchplay in Blackpool this past weekend and Paul Nicholson was on hand to cover it for Talksport and in his latest column for Sporting Life, he covered a myriad of topics relating to the tournament.

This included his thoughts on Wright being in the all-time great debate and where he fits in now compared to likely at the end of his career.

"Peter is currently in the bracket as other one-time world champions who have won other majors but often a player’s legacy is about how they feel their careers compared to their aspirations," said Nicholson on Sporting Life.

"He’s already come out and said he wants to win a second world title in 2022 so that says to me his legacy is far from written. But as far as other people’s perception of him is concerned, he’s definitely one of the best 15 players to have ever thrown a dart.

"I wouldn’t put him in the top 10 yet but by the time he has finished his career, I’m sure he will be."

Pre-tournament predictions and new rivalry

He also spoke about Peter Wright's predictions that he'd win the title which was widely criticised but he delivered on the promise.

"I can’t stand the fact that some players think it’s wrong that Peter goes to some events and predicts he’s going to win them," he continued.

"Some players will think “I can win” but the way Peter was feeling, he truly believed he would win…and he backed it up.

"This is not a new thing with Peter though. If you go back to the time during his rivalry with Michael van Gerwen when he lost a lot of finals, he often said he’d bash him up. And quite often he didn’t.

"But now he’s managed to defeat him in a World Championship final and on his way to World Matchplay glory – in spectacular circumstances – so in many ways that makes his achievements more impressive.

"Peter has put his reputation on the line many times in his career whether it’s by what he’s said or what he’s wearing when he was working his way up without the titles to back it up. He wasn’t afraid to do that and now it’s paying off. He stuck to his guns and his faith has been rewarded.

"We can’t criticise his predictions – even when he said MVG won’t win a TV title in 2021 – because so far he’s been right!

As well as the next battle for Wright which could be for the World Number One spot which Nicholson believes could open the floodgates.

"It’s up to others to prove him wrong but at the moment I think he’s on course to fulfil another prediction of becoming world number one. He’s not far behind Gerwyn Price now and we could be about to see a game of world number one tennis like we get in some other sports."