PETER WRIGHT put his name alongside some of the greats of the game by winning his second PDC World Championship.
The Scot backed up his 2020 title with a 7-5 victory over Michael Smith in a tense final at Alexandra Palace to join an elite list of names to win the Sid Waddell Trophy twice.
Wright, ranked number two in the world, produced his best darts when it really mattered, winning nine of the last 10 legs to get the better of Smith, who will be left ruing a missed opportunity.
Smith, who lost the 2019 final, was leading 5-4 and had the darts at 2-0 to go within a set of a maiden major title.
But Wright, who did not get to bed until the early hours of Monday after an epic semi-final win over Gary Anderson, turned on the style to win a tournament that at one point it looked like might not go on after coronavirus forced the withdrawal of several players.
And Wright was the last man standing as both finalists were left in tears on the stage at the end.
Smith was inconsolable but could take pride in throwing a record 83 180s, more than any other player in a single tournament.
๐ฆ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ข๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐! ๐
โ PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2022
Unplayable.
Peter Wright defeats Michael Smith 7-5 to secure his second World Championship title in a thrilling final and what a moment this is for Peter and his family ๐
๐๐ฌ๐ค-๐ฉ๐๐ข๐. ๐ pic.twitter.com/cQwdzCuGsc
โIโm over the moon. Iโve done it, but obviously, me and Mike didnโt perform how we can,โ Wright told Sky Sports.
โI canโt explain what went wrong for 90 per cent of the match. I just kept swapping darts trying to find something.โ
Fair play to Leinster ,and to heaslip , whoโs balls I have broken for a while now , he was top shelf lately when they needed him.
Agree totally about Heaslip. I put my hand up as a Heaslip basher too. Eating humble pie now and gladly admit it. But as to turning a corner, stillthink there is a lot of work to be done.
I know every coach has his own style but why in the name of god did OโConnor go in the complete opposite direction to what Schmidt was doing at Leinster. He has turned ye from one of the best ball handling sides in the world to a side that now canโt string 5 passes together without someone dropping it or putting boot to ball. The sooner he goes the better it will be for Leinster and Irish rugby.
From all his soundbites and the evidence of past games, MOC seems to be a guy who tells his players to try Plan A, and if that doesnโt work, to try Plan A harder
Plan b is a fallacy. Thereโs the gameplan and thereโs playing heads up when the opportunity arises. Coming up with one gameplan is hard enough, getting 23 guys on the same page about two gameplans is a waste of time.
I guess so, mate. It depends on the way you look at it. Maybe what I mean is that Leinster are pretty one-dimensional under MOC. Coaches should be able to tweak things at half time. Plus Leinster are lacking technically in a lot of areas, hence my suggestion that MOC just tries to get the players to try the same stuff with more intensity
Leinster were great to watch under Schmidt now they are a bore.
When Schmidt landed he could do no right , look at him now โloikeโ
That lasted for all of a few weeks though. Weโre a season and a bit in and theyโve still only been impressive twice. Northampton away and the Pro12 final. Every time they win thereโs the feeling that it was unconvincing and a bit jammy. I donโt get anything like the enjoyment from watching them play that I used to. Still just as big a supporter but there are too many ugly wins.
Your turnip stew is going cold buddy.
Ya not alone Iโve felt like that since kidney left Munster :)