Peter Wright rolls back years to dethrone Luke Humphries at PDC world darts
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Luke Humphries left this arena stunned and staggered, left it the victim of one of the greatest ambushes ever plotted on this stage, left it a former world champion. For an ailing and ageing Peter Wright, the only conceivable reality in which he could win this match existed in his own mind, and over 40 scintillating minutes he set about carving this vision into magnificent flesh.
![[Tottenham’s James Maddison watches the night session at Alexandra Palace.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/28706449423892364f3c253167e16667f3e7544d/0_207_5427_3256/master/5427.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In a way, it was a vision dreamed up days in advance, when Humphries was still the king of the Palace and Wright was simply the washed up world No 17, and the possibility of this game barely registered. But Wright knew what he was doing when he aimed a little barb at Humphries, predicting he would lose early in the tournament. “I’m one world title away from almost matching his career and I’m 25 years younger,” Humphries bit back in jest. But on some remote level, a seed had been planted.
And when battle arrived, Wright did not shrink. All the old tics and tricks came out: switching his darts as if they were clubs in a golf bag, refusing bull out-shots even when Humphries was on a finish, showing the world No 1 a magnificent disrespect. But the real target of Wright’s mind games was himself: a daring experiment in manifesting, through sheer will, the man he once was. All that remained was for his darts to cash the cheques his hubris had written for him.
At which point, something strange happened. The Palace crowd, often indifferent to Wright in the past, swung firmly behind him. Wright responded with darts of the finest vintage: an average of 101, backed by a 70% rate on the doubles, backed by an impeccable sense of timing and discipline and nerve and spirit. A run of 17 consecutive legs on throw was snapped only by the crucial break of throw that earned Wright a 3-1 lead in sets: an incredible 12-darter at the most important juncture of the match.
