Peter Wright calls Luke Humphries his inspiration after stunning Ally Pally win
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Peter Wright has saluted Luke Humphries and Luke Littler for inspiring his seismic victory at the World Darts Championship. The 54-year-old Scot stunned reigning world champion Humphries 4-1 on Sunday night to move into the quarter-final at Alexandra Palace.
“Luke Humphries and Luke Littler inspire me to carry on playing darts,” said Wright, who lifted the crown in 2020 and 2022 and was in tears at the end of a match that turned the formbook upside down. “I’m not ready to go to the senior side yet because I know I can still play this game. I know I can get better.
“I felt confident playing Luke over a shorter distance. If I didn’t beat him in this round he would have retained his title because I don’t think any other player would have got close to Luke over a longer distance. “It was my only chance over shorter sets and luckily enough it worked.”.
‘Snakebite’ averaged nearly 101 and hit 70 per cent of his doubles against Humphries, who was nowhere near the standard that took him to glory on the Ally Pally stage 12 months ago. But Wright was still dissatisfied with the performance, saying he was a long way from his best.
He said: “I’m obviously over the moon with the win but I wasn’t pleased with my performance. “I struggled through the whole game, just trying to get the throwing action and placing the darts and making it feel nice. “I think I hit 180 at a crucial time and that was the only throw in the whole match that it felt good. The round before I felt more comfortable and didn’t play as well.
