‘Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle fears Peter Wright’s career could be all but over after his terrible form brought his Grand Slam of Darts campaign to a premature end.
A 5-1 loss to John Cross on Monday night saw the two-time world champion crash out of the tournament in Wolverhampton without winning any of his three group stage matches.
Mardle revealed that Wright shared a scathing assessment of the current state of his game, a surprising recognition in the eyes of the Sky Sports pundit with less than five weeks to go until the start of the World Darts Championship.
“Peter Wright’s form is worrying.” Madul said. “This has been a period of time.
“I believe you can mask problems that can have positive consequences. I think the European Championships last year did that. It came out of nowhere, it really did. Winning the European Tour this year also came out of nowhere.
“He can still do it, but if he leaves I think he’s wrong. He has no B game at all.
“He was upstairs joking with us about how trash he was, but it seemed like he meant it. He was joking, but at that point I felt a little bit of sympathy for him.”
Peter Wright has withdrawn from the Grand Slam of Darts after suffering three group stage defeats.
Mardle, who retired from darts in 2012, was undecided about Wright’s career but suggested a final hurray at the World Championships could provide a thrilling final chapter for the Snakebite.
“We know how good he is,” Mardle added. “But to be honest, he’s closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning.
“He was world champion two years ago, but he’s 54 now. How many more good years could he have had?”
“If he finds another purple patch, another Peter Wright patch, he will be fine (at the World Championships), but this has been going on long enough so we have to find it now.”
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