Sport
Peter Wright defies wind to blow away Duzza
Peter Wright admitted he defied the wind to blow away Glen Durrant in a Ladbrokes UK Open thriller. Snakebite delivered a 121 checkout to finally kill off Duzza in the heavyweight clash of the fourth round in Minehead last night.
It was nip and tuck all the way but Peter Wright broke throw with a 60, treble 11 and double 14 combination to move through the fifth round.
Peter Wright admitted: “It was really close and I’m just relieved to be through. It was always going to be tough to draw Glen this early, I always get World Champions. I’ll get another next round!”
“I felt really good, me and Glen always have a good game. I felt really confident but I wasn’t happy with the board, there’s a little bit of wind up there.”
“I had a few chances to break his throw which was annoying. I was confident I was going to hit the 121, so I went for the treble 11 not just the big 11. You have to believe in your own ability. Sometimes it happens.
“The match I think lived up to what people expected. It was probably going to take something special to win it and luckily that 121 was probably it!
“It’s always a hard tournament because anything can happen, you can draw anyone. I’d love to win it again but there’s so many good players now. I’m pleased to win. It’s been some time since I won a game in Minehead!”
Peter Wright appeared to be in cruise control as he edged into a 3-1 lead in the early stages. But three-times World Champ Duzza came storming back with four successive legs to leave Snakey on the rack.
But in a cracking clash, Wright was far from finished. He then took out 88 to go back in front at 7-6 to set up a grandstand finale. Durrant then took out 96 to make it 8-8 but Snakebite had one last surge to win the final two legs with a 102 average to seal his place in the next round.
Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall served up a classic with expectant father MVG edging home 10-8 after a see-saw battle after the Dutchman lost to Michael Smith in the Premier League on Thursday.
Rob Cross narrowly averted a shock by coming from behind to KO Niels Zonneveld 10-7 while Dave Chisnall was sent crashing out to William O’Connor who led at one stage 7-0, before finally getting home 10-8.
Both Fallon Sherrock and Lisa Ashton failed to get past their first round opponents. Kyle McKinstry was excellent in a 6-1 win over Sherrock while Mike De Decker beat Ashton 6-2.
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