Wayne Mardle worries about form crisis of Peter Wright: ''Nearer the end of his career than the start"

Wayne Mardle is worried about Peter Wright. After his disastrous performance at the Grand Slam of Darts, "Hawaii 501" speculated to Sky Sports that the end of Wright's career may be beginning to approach.

The Scot has been in a form crisis since 2023. Wright still managed to save his season last year by winning the European Championship to everyone's surprise, but that revival was not long-lived. Wright's first half of the season was again very disappointing, with a last-place finish in the Premier League Darts for the second consecutive season and early exits at tournaments such as the World Darts Championship, UK Open and World Matchplay.

For a while after the summer, Wright seemed to have things back on track, and the two-time world champion even won a Euro Tour title. But even this revival did not last long. At the World Grand Prix and the European Championship, Wright was eliminated right away. At the European Darts Championship, moreover, Wright threw an average of just 75.

At the Grand Slam of Darts, the Scot was once again unable to make a breakthrough. He lost to Martin Lukeman (5-0), Leonard Gates (5-4) and Rob Cross (5-1). With less than five weeks until the World Cup of Darts, all alarm bells should be ringing with Wright, according to Mardle.

"Peter Wright's form is worrying," Mardle said to Sky Sports. "This is a period that has gone on for a while. I believe a positive result can mask problems that might be there, and I think the European Championships last year did that. That came out of the blue, it really did. A European Tour win this year came out of the blue too.

"He can still do it, but when he comes off, my word he's off. He's got no B game at all. He was upstairs joking with us saying how rubbish he is, but I felt like he meant it. He was joking about it, but I kind of felt for him at that point."

Mardle suggested that a successful world championship might be a nice end to Wright's career. "We know how good he can be," Mardle added. "But let's be honest, he's nearer the end of his career than the start.

"He was world champion two years ago but he's 54 years of age - how many more good years would he have had anyway?

"If he finds another purple patch, another Peter Wright patch, he'll be fine [at the World Championships], but he needs to find it now because this has gone on long enough."