Peter Wright seals £500,000 World Darts Championship jackpot with win over Michael Smith

4 Jan 2022

The Mirror

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Peter Wright seals 500000 World Darts Championship jackpot with win over Michael Smith

Peter Wright found another level in the later stages of the match at Alexandra Palace to condemn Michael Smith to an eighth major final defeat

Peter Wright produced a stunning late run of form to win the World Darts Championship for the second time, coming back from 5-4 down to blow Michael Smith away at the death.

It looked for a while as though the Englishman might get his hands on darts' biggest prize for the first time as he came back from falling behind early to put himself within one dart of a 6-4 lead.

But Wright, who looked for a while as though he was tiring and losing his momentum, found a second wind from somewhere and won eight legs in a row to put himself within one leg of glory.

Smith ended that streak by taking the third leg of the final set, but Snakebite would not be denied as he nailed a double 16 to lift this famous trophy for the second time, and walk away with the £500,000 jackpot.

Peter Wright lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy for the second time in his career by beating Michael Smith ( PA)

Smith threatened to produce something special in the very first leg, recording back-to-back 180s against the darts – but missed two attempts at double top and was punished as Wright nailed his first checkout arrow.

In contrast, neither could find a double to save their lives in an astonishing second leg, which saw Smith breathe a huge sigh of relief when he eventually found double one with the 55th dart of the leg.

It was a sign of nerves from both finalists, as both seemed to grow more flustered with the crowd jeering every missed arrow in what was the worst quality leg of the entire tournament.

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But, despite Smith being the one to finally end that excruciating second leg, it was Wright who found his groove quickest as he made light work of the rest of the set to become the first to get on the board.

Consistency in the outer ring has been Smith's strength in his remarkable run to the final, but his clinical conversions deserted him in the early sets as he spurned chance after chance.

And he was shown how it was done in the second set, when Wright produced an unerring 148 checkout before following it up with a 124 to break Smith's throw and take control of the tie.

But suddenly Bully Boy found his star quality, eclipsing Wright's checkouts with an almost cocky 167 finish to break back in the third set, while raining 180s to get the Ally Pally crowd chanting his name.

He went on to level things up at two sets apiece after the 2020 champion missed two checkout darts and watched on in agony as Smith nailed his first dart at double 10 to restore parity.

The Englishman broke the record for number of 180s hit over the course of the tournament with his 72nd in the fifth set, but he went on to lose it anyway as Wright held despite shaking his head at his own profligacy at times.

Michael Smith hit 180s for fun at times, but was powerless to stop Peter Wright from dominating the latter stages of the final ( Getty Images)

Smith bounced back to make it 3-3, and Snakebite was left even more frustrated as the man from St Helens produced the first whitewash set of the match to take the lead in the final for the first time.

Wright looked to be tiring, while Smith was growing into the match and looked the be the most likely to go on and win the match from there.

But by this point there was a sense of 'anything you can do, I can' as neither allowed the other to pull too far ahead.

Wright responded to going behind with a break of his own, and levelled things up again at 4-4 in a match which threatened to go the distance.

It looked as though the lead would change hands once again, but Wright spurned several checkout chances and watched on furious with himself as Smith, who probably threw his worst darts of the match in the ninth set, won it anyway and took a slender lead again.

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Smith had the chance to put himself firmly in the driving seat after winning the first two legs of the tenth, but then Wright found his second wind to dominate the next three and level the scores yet again.

And he built on that by winning three more in a row to make it 6-5 and take the lead in what was proving to be a topsy-turvy slugfest between two brilliant players.

There has to be a loser in these blockbuster matches, and in the end it was major final agony again for Smith again as Wright used all of his experience to see out the 12th set and lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the second time in his career.

Despite the win, Wright admitted he had not been able to produce his best darts and almost sounded apologetic in his post-match interview.

The vocal Ally Pally crowd was left entertained by the slugfest on stage ( PA)

"I was playing so bad… we both were to be honest. We had patches of 2/3 legs and that was it," he told Sky Sports.

He went on to say he felt both players were not at their best, and tipped Smith to dominate the darts world in the future if he can break his major trophy duck.

"This man he let me in today, I shouldn’t have had the first set, Go and practice for doubles mate. I feel so bad," Snakebite added as he joked about the pair's below-par performance.

"The atmosphere in here was affecting my darts and I think they were affecting Michael's as well.

"Trust me, as soon as Michael wins a major, he will trounce everybody. He's the future of darts."