World number three and UK Open champion, Peter ’Snakebite’ Wright claimed his first ever World Series of Darts title on Saturday when he overcame the once imperious Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor in the German Darts Masters final at Dusseldorf’s Castello Arena.
Wright rides the momentum
The Scotsman, who finished Sunday’s final with an average of 102.25, got off to a great start, checking out with 116 and a 12-darter in the first leg before following up with double 12 and a 13-darter to take a 2-0 lead.
By leg three, Taylor had struck back, but Wright subsequently took the next three successive legs to establish a 5-1 gap. Taylor would soon fight back by taking back-to-back legs, but ultimately those efforts would prove futile.
A 180 finish saw Wright restore a four-leg lead at 7-3 before stretching it to five with a 61 finish. After another 180, Wright was up 9-3, moving him to the brink of a victory that came not long after a another 12-dart leg, finishing on double ten.
Earlier in the week, Wright had seen off Dragutin Horvat and Mensur Suljovic, before overcoming Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals.
The tournament was of course missing Michael van Gerwen who withdrew on Saturday morning, due to an ankle injury. The world number one should, however, line up this week for the European Championship at the Ethias Arena, Hasselt, Belgium.
European Championship begins Thursday
The event gets underway this Thursday and runs through Sunday. MVG will be bidding to win the title for a fourth successive year. Despite his recent injury, the Dutch master is the number one seed after finishing on top in the European Tour Order of Merit by winning six of this season’s 12 European Tour events. Peter Wright finished in the Order’s second place having claimed five events. The last was won by Michael Smith in Gibraltar back in May. Smith currently sits in third place in the order.
These results are all reflected in the betting lines as van Gerwen can be picked up at a best price 4/5, Peter Wright 9/2 and Smith 25/1, all at Betway. The entire field is made up of the top 32 on the Order of Merit list, but will be sadly lacking Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade.
Both Daryl Gurney and Mensur Suljovic have had strong finishes to the year and are reflected in the updated betting lines. Northern Irishman Gurney and Austrian Suljovic are both worth 16’s at Betway which is genuinely quite tempting. Further down the line, Rob Cross (16/1), Dave Chisnall (25/1) and Simon Whitlock (40/1) and perhaps even Gerwyn Price (66/1) are all worth keeping an eye on.
European Championship Darts
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Jan Dekker
Ian White v Darren Webster
Simon Whitlock (8) v James Richardson
Alan Norris v Mervyn King
Jelle Klaasen (5) v Christian Kist
John Henderson v Kyle Anderson
Mensur Suljovic (4) v Kim Huybrechts
Gerwyn Price v Ronny Huybrechts
Peter Wright (2) v Krzysztof Ratajski
Jonny Clayton v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Joe Cullen (7) v Stephen Bunting
Daryl Gurney v Steve Beaton
Rob Cross (6) v Martin Schindler
Dave Chisnall v Cristo Reyes
Michael Smith (3) v Nathan Aspinall
Benito van de Pas v Vincent van der Voort
Gerwyn Price v Ronny Huybrechts
Alan Norris v Mervyn King
Ian White v Darren Webster
John Henderson v Kyle Anderson
Simon Whitlock (8) v James Richardson
Mensur Suljovic (4) v Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Jan Dekker
Jelle Klaasen (5) v Christian Kist
Friday October 27
Jonny Clayton v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Dave Chisnall v Cristo Reyes
Benito van de Pas v Vincent van der Voort
Daryl Gurney v Steve Beaton
Michael Smith (3) v Nathan Aspinall
Rob Cross (6) v Martin Schindler
Joe Cullen (7) v Stephen Bunting
Peter Wright (2) v Krzysztof Ratajski
Second Round
Saturday October 28
Klaasen/Kist v Henderson/Anderson
Whitlock/Richardson v Norris/King
Van Gerwen/Dekker v White/Webster
Suljovic/K Huybrechts v Price/R Huybrechts
Smith/Aspinall v Van de Pas/Can der Voort
Cross/Schindler v Chisnall/Reyes
Cullen/Bunting v Gurney/Beaton
Wright/Ratajski v Clayton/Van den Bergh
Sunday October 29
Quarter-Finals
Semi-Finals
Final