Wright happy to go under the radar in defence of his World Championship title - "I hate being favourite rather be the outsider"

He may not have been the Grinch who stole Christmas, but the festive attire of reigning PDC World Darts Champion Peter Wright stole the show on opening night as he got the defence of his title off to the perfect start thanks to a 3-0 demolition of Mickey Mansell.

After a difficult few weeks for Snakebite which has seen his wife Jo be in and out of the hospital, kicking off his defence of the World Championship surely couldn't have gone much better as he eased to victory against Mickey Mansell who had earlier defeated Ben Robb. "I'll take that," Wright says. "I've had difficult matches in the past where players have turned up and put me out of the tournament, so I'm happy Mickey didn't turn up."

Having taken some time off from darts due to his wife's health concerns, Wright has entered the tournament somewhat under the radar despite being the reigning champion. "To be honest I've been rubbish all year," Snakebite admits. "I prefer not being the favourite, I'll let them talk about the other players"

Despite his modest comments, the 2-time former champion is still confident of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy yet again come January 3rd. "When I won it the first year I was third or fourth favourite," he says. "I'd like to win but obviously I've got to play a lot better than that."