PETER WRIGHT’S mind games worked perfectly as he out-psyched Luke Humphries to dethrone the world champion in frenetic fashion.
Snakebite, 54, defied the 25-year age gap and produced a masterclass of finishing to win 4-1 in the fourth round of the PDC World Darts Championship and back up his pre-game trash talk.
Peter Wright produced his best performance of the year to knock out Luke HumphriesRex
Luke Humphries was easily beaten by Wright as his title defence came to an endRex
Wright and Humphries embraced after the match
Wright teared up as he exchanged some words with the fallen champion
It was clearly an emotional moment for Scotsman Wright
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Humphries, 29, dramatically bombed out of the competition, almost 12 months after he ruled the world for the first time.
The world No1 will not defend the Sid Waddell Trophy – Gary Anderson in 2016 was the last man to achieve that feat – after suffering his first defeat in nine successive games on the Ally Pally stage.
It spectacularly opens up the top half of the draw and means 17-year-old Luke Littler has an excellent chance to become the youngest world champion in history.
Two-time world champion Wright went from his sick bed to the doubles bed and took out exactly 70 per cent of his doubles in the shock result of the 2024/25 tournament.
The Scotsman, 54, riled the defending world champ pre-game by predicting Raymond van Barneveld would KO him in round three.
That never happened, as the Dutchman lost early, but Wright had predicted that he and Barney would then have “the best game you’ve ever seen on the stage”.
In response, the Berkshire thrower told his trash-talking foe there would be “egg on his face” if he did not “smash me”.
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And in a proper verbal barb, he warned: “I’m one world title away from matching his career and I’m 25 years younger!”
It added spice and intrigue to this clash and though they are actually good mates, there was only a cursory fist-bump at the start.
Wright – who was wearing another snazzy Christmas top – was coughing and spluttering last Friday due to a chest infection but was better this time and did his usual dance on the stage for the fans.
He was really up for this one, too, and took a 1-0 lead, the first set that Humphries had conceded at world level since becoming world champion last January.
Humphries responded with a 161 in leg one and then produced an under-pressure steal in leg five to level up at 1-1.
At the TV break, Wright changed his darts – as he often does – and opened set three with a brilliant 83 before then swapping them back again to move 2-1 ahead with a 96.
The crowd sensed the upset was coming and when he moved 3-1 up, there was a TV ad break for the players to regroup backstage.
Wright emphatically opened set five with a Bull finish on 88 – Humphries acknowledged that with a fist-bump – and then sealed his best win this year on double eight.
On New Year’s Day, Wright now plays No8 seed Stephen Bunting or Luke Woodhouse and that tie will be concluded on Monday.
Speaking after his huge win, Wright said: “He didn’t play like he can. I have never had support like this in my life. Thank you. It’s amazing.
“I have struggled for form all year. It’s so annoying. I know I can still play darts. I switched to another set there to try and find something.
“This crowd, I have never experienced anything like it in the world. Absolutely amazing.
“Lucky that I wasn’t playing the Luke Humphries of last year as he was absolutely awesome then.
“I am a double world champion. I wanted to win it for the third time. I am not too old.
“You only have to play well for two-and-a-half weeks in the whole year. Doesn’t matter what else you do.
“This is all that matters. I am in the quarter-finals.
“I thought I played rubbish tonight. I hope I can play better and score better in the next round. As long as this crowd are behind me, I have a great hence.”
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