Scottish darts star Peter Wright joins 'elite group' by winning second PDC World Championship
The Scot beat England's Michael Smith in the final
Last updated 4th Jan 2022
Scottish darts player Peter Wright says he wasn't at his best when he claimed his second PDC World Championship title in a tense win over Michael Smith.
The Livingston-born 51-year-old - who last won the Sid Waddell trophy in 2020 - emerged 7-5 winner over his English opponent at London's Alexandra Palace last night.
Wright, ranked number two in the world, had to come back from 5-4 behind against the losing finalist in 2019.
The man nicknamed Snakebite told reporters afterwards it meant a lot to claim the title again, following a tournament hit by Covid withdrawals.
Wright said: "I am over the moon. I know it is Sid, but it is my lady, I am happy to get her back."
"I am gutted for the players that have missed out on the tournament, but that doesn't take away from me working hard to get it.
"I have won it back-to-back with crowds in. To be part of that elite group, people might say it was lucky when I beat Michael (Van Gerwen) when he wasn't playing well, but it's nice to prove everyone I can win it horribly.
"I can win another three before I am too old.
"I have to keep my feet on the ground because there are many fantastic darts players around.
"I have got that big sign on my back for the rest of the year that they all want to beat me, they will all play extremely well and hit big finishes. That's because I am world champion and they want to beat the world champion."
'I must have done something terrible in a past life'
Defeated finalist Smith was left ruing a nightmare run of six losses from six finals - and remains without a major trophy.
"I must have done something terrible in a past life because it's doing my head in now," he told Sky Sports after the match.
"I'll have a bad night now, but I'll definitely be back on that board and I'll be getting ready for the next one.
"I wasn't playing my best, but every time it got to a two-set thing, I kept fighting back and fighting back, but in the end that bullseye wouldn't go in.
"I had a couple of shots at 104 and stuff but that's darts, I guess."