"Practice? I've gone through near-enough 400 sets of darts in the past week-and-a-half trying to find the right darts for the world championship." Peter Wright's preparations for the World Darts Championship have gone according to plan as per
Monday 14 December 2020 13:06, UK
Peter Wright may be 50, but the reigning king of Alexandra Palace is dreaming of winning the PDC World Darts Championship another two times before he retires from the sport.
The Scotsman claimed his maiden world title on New Year's Day when he upset favourite Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final.
Phil Taylor won the last of his 16 world titles aged 53 in 2013, but 'Snakebite' has no thoughts of quitting anytime soon and is dreaming of lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy on January 3.
"There is no pressure on me because I have achieved my dream of becoming world champion," Wright told Sky Sports. "The pressure is on the other guys who haven't won it. If I don't win it this year, I will win it next year. I will be three-time world champion before I retire.
"If I'm still stubborn enough and want to upset the youngsters coming through I might stay around and get it five times, maybe. I don't know. I'll see how the body's doing."
Unfortunately, if I win my first game I'm not playing until after Christmas so I don't get to wear two Christmas outfits. We got the first one planned and the plan is to put a big smile on everyone's face. I think we'll achieve that.
Speaking about when the right time might be to retire, he said: "I don't know. It's when my body says its had enough and that's it, I think. There's no exact plan.
"I've said I might start slowing down in the next couple of years to be fresher for the big TV tournaments instead of running around Europe chasing all the points for rankings. So we'll see how the body gets on."
Wright suffered an ankle injury earlier this year and as we head closer to the start of the Worlds, he has revealed a niggling rib problem has been causing him issues, while his wife, Jo, has already gone through back surgery.
The timing has not been great for Peter and wife Jo ahead of his opening night clash against the winner of the first-round tie between Steve West and Amit Gilitwala.
Darts' ultimate Christmas extravaganza begins on Tuesday, December 15 - live on Sky Sports Darts. And Wright is just excited to be heading to north London to play in front of 1,000 fans rather than play behind closed doors in Milton Keynes or Coventry.
"Oh yes, most definitely," he said. "You couldn't have the Worlds anywhere else really. If they had it at Milton Keynes or Coventry I would have gone nuts I think.
"I've just got to concentrate on what's in front of me and that's it. Try and win that first leg. Try and win that first set. That's the main thing.
"Unfortunately, if I win my first game I'm not playing until after Christmas so I don't get to wear two Christmas outfits. We got the first one planned and the plan is to put a big smile on everyone's face. I think we'll achieve that"
You won't miss a dart this Christmas thanks to the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel which returns from December 15 until January 4 for every session from the World Darts Championship, including the final on Sunday, January 3. Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts
