Peter Wright feeling refreshed and ready to hit form after 'rubbish' 2022
- Joe Hewlett
- 13 July 2022
The Scot has not performed to his high standards since winning his second World Championship at the start of the year.
Peter Wright is ready to defend his World Matchplay title after an inconsistent few months on the oche.
The 52-year-old will play at the Winter Gardens events hoping it will continue to be a happy hunting ground for him after a sensational tournament 12 months ago.
Wright - who begins the defence of his title against Latvian debutant Madars Razma opened up on a barren run which has seen him not win a competition since February.
"I've been rubbish this year!" laughed Wright, who will take on Latvian debutant Madars Razma in his opener.
"I started off alright, but I've found it really hard work getting used to a busy schedule again. The new Premier League format was more demanding than usual, so I needed a break.
"You either do them all and tire yourself out or you pick and choose which events you play; I'll be doing the latter from now on.
"Nine times out of ten I do well at the World Matchplay so hopefully I can win it again and move clear of the chasing pack in the rankings.
"After my break my head is right again now and that's been reflected in my high averages; it's coming back, I'm ready to defend my title.
"That's what I did last year [had a break] and that worked so I'm near enough there, but you always need a little bit of luck."
Wright can become just the fourth player after Phil Taylor, Rod Harrington and Michael van Gerwen to defend the World Matchplay title.
"Plenty of players have tried it in the past [to defend the World Matchplay] and loads of them have failed," said Wright.
"It's going to be tough because of the standard of the field."
