Peter Wright said he was “over the moon” after he defeated Michael Smith 7-5 to land the PDC World Darts Championship for the second time in Monday’s final at Alexandra Palace.
Scotland’s Wright, champion in 2020, was the favourite heading into the finale and he raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to 148 and 124 checkouts but England’s Smith won the third with a superb 167 finish.
Smith and Wright then shared the next two sets, leaving the Scot 3-2 ahead, only for the Englishman to then reel off the next two sets to move into a 4-3 lead to the delight of the partisan home crowd.
After both players managed to hold their throw in the next two sets, leaving Smith 5-4 up, the crucial moments of the match then came when the 2020 champion, two legs down in the 10th set, proceeded to win nine of the next 10 legs.
It was a truly stunning end to the match for Wright, who clinched the 7-5 victory and became just the sixth player to have been crowned PDC world champion on more than one occasion.
The 51-year-old, who wins £500,000 in prize money and is only £15,250 behind world number one Gerwyn Price in the world darts ranking system, was delighted to have the trophy back in his grasp.
“I’m over the moon, I’ve got her back,” he said, as quoted by BBC Sport. “This is my lady and I’m happy to get it back.”
As for Smith, his wait for a major TV title continues, but Wright believes the Englishman has a bright future, adding: “Michael has done fantastic to get to the final again and will learn from that. He’s going to be a future world champion.”
Wright can be backed at 13/2 to win the title for a third time in the 2023 edition, while Smith is priced at 8/1 and Price is the 4/1 favourite to get back on top of the world.
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