Scottish defending champions Anderson and Wright both withdraw from World Cup of Darts

Peter Wright and Gary Anderson, the defending champions in the World Cup of Darts for Scotland will not defend their title in Austria next month, it has been announced.

Wright won the title alongside Gary Anderson in Germany last year and they would have been among the forerunners to retain this time around between November 6-8.

Anderson has already voiced his displeasure at travelling outside of the UK at this time withdrawing from the Autumn Series and World Series of Darts Finals and has said that even if the World Championship went abroad, he wouldn't go.

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When asked about it on the latest episode of the Weekly Dartscast, Wright revealed he will join Anderson in skipping events starting this weekend in Sindelfingen for the European Tour with Stephen Bunting and Adrian Lewis catching COVID-19 seemingly a wakeup call for the World Champion.

“Unfortunately, I’m not playing (in the World Cup) either,” Wright said to the Weekly Dartscast.

“I can understand Gary when he says why he doesn’t travel, getting on a plane, and stuff like that.

“I thought about it a long time, and it’s another reason why I’ve pulled out of the two Europeans (European Tour events in Sindelfingen (October 16-18) and Riesa (October 23-25) coming up.

“It’s not because of people not doing their jobs properly, but there’s a few idiots breaking the rules and you could pick it (the virus) up.

“Poor Adrian Lewis and Stephen Bunting missing out (on the World Grand Prix after positive Covid-19 tests). I think they probably caught that when we was in Germany.

“It’s unfortunate, but I’ve won the World Cup with Gary. I’ve achieved my dream of winning it for Scotland, but I won’t be playing in another World Cup.”

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It is unknown as of yet if a different team will be picked to represent Scotland in the event. In the future, Wright has revealed that he will be driving to events going forward including if the World Championship goes abroad.

“You’ve got to think of your health and safety, and family,” Wright continued.

“If the World Championships are abroad, then we’ll be driving there.

“That’s what we’re going to do for the European finals. Fingers crossed things can change really quickly and we can get a vaccine out to help everybody.”