Snakebite out to put MVG past behind him

Five years on from their first World Championship final, Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen meet for the title again

Having predicted a place in the World Darts Championship final against Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright will get his chance to finally conquer the man who has stopped him becoming a champion on more than one occasion.

Snakebite has battled his way through a missed match dart from Noel Malicdem in the second round, survived a Luke Humphries fightback in an Ally Pally classic and overcome a lack of sleep to reach his second final.

The final hurdle is perhaps the biggest, his ultimate nemesis: MvG, the world No 1 and defending champion looking to become only the third man to win four titles.

Wright and Van Gerwen know the history, but while the Dutchman has the statistics on his side, Wright is trying to talk himself into a position of authority.

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Wright says that Gerwyn Price was ‘nowhere near him’ after he beat the Welshmen to progress to the final

Wright says that Gerwyn Price was ‘nowhere near him’ after he beat the Welshmen to progress to the final

“He [Michael] played me in the past and I lost those games – I’ve given them away in the past and now I’m not giving anything away,” Wright said after a 6-3 win over Gerwyn Price on Monday night.

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Wright hit a 140 checkout to fight back from the brink of defeat

Wright hit a 140 checkout to fight back from the brink of defeat

“I believe [I’m in the best form], but Michael can just turn up and play some tremendous darts so it depends on the day.”

As he looked to the big screen in the corner of the media room where the world No 1 was level with Nathan Aspinall, he added “I’ve done my job, he just needs to do his job. And I’ll pick up the trophy.”

Wright is talking a good game – and with good reason. There is history and plenty of it. It is almost as though Wright needs to convince himself the previous showdowns will mean nothing on New Year’s Day.

Van Gerwen leads the head-to-head 59-17 and has beaten Snakebite in their nine major televised finals, Wright has in fact lost 12 of his 13 showpiece finals since he burst onto the scene with his run to the final at Alexandra Palace in 2014.

Snakebite lost in his first World Championship final against MvG in 2014 – it gave the Dutchman his first world crown

That defeat was at the hands of Van Gerwen and that run five years ago came under the radar.

The 49-year-old has arguably been the most consistent performer at this year’s Championship and most observers are in agreement that the 2017 UK Open is scant reward for a man who has been at the very top for the last five years.

“It would just be another trophy, my second one,” he laughed when asked how much, and how overdue, another big title would be.

“It would be immense. I’ve just got to go up and play my game, like I’ve been doing this tournament and we’ll see who wins.”

Van Gerwen has been far from his best over the last three weeks. He’s been doing what he needs to do, winning four of five sets on fifth leg deciders to end Aspinall’s hopes. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by Wright, who has been far from impressed by the defending champion as he told Stuart Pyke in his Sky Sports interview after dispatching the Iceman.

The Dutchman knows he needs to improve, but he also knows history is on his side

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“I hope I can play a bit better than I have been doing so far in this tournament and I’m looking forward to the final,” he said.

“Most of the time Peter plays me he blows up and misses darts at double and that’s a good thing for myself – I think he’s more scared of me than I am of him.”

For Wright, the missed opportunities, despite his protestations, are there tapping away at him and the most recent evidence suggests they gnaw away at the crucial moments too. This year’s Champions League and the infamous Premier League 2017 final immediately spring to mind.

Both matches went to last leg deciders, but on both occasions, Wright missed match darts. Seven at The O2 in May 2017 when Van Gerwen fought back from 5-1 and 7-2 down to win against a disconsolate Snakebite.

And then again in October at the Champions League when Wright blew four missed match darts and a 10-7 lead to lose 11-10 and give the Dutchman a clean sweep of every single televised title.

Snakebite insists they are in the past, but it’s hard to believe that those last leg shoot-outs, or Van Gerwen’s stock answer of the ‘right things at the right times’, will not play their part.

So back to that prediction, which came in Germany a few weeks ago.

“I’ve already told MVG that I was going to play him in the finals at the Worlds when I did an exhibition in December in Germany. I said, ‘I’ll see you there’.

“I’m not going to throw it away again, I am more mature now, all other finals are in the past. You can’t change the past. You can change the future. I’ve got three darts to change the future.”

It was fitting that Wright uttered the words with a steely determination while Van Gerwen was in action on the oche a few hundred yards away because for Snakebite, Van Gerwen has always been there, standing in his way.

He will be again when the battle to be sport’s first world champion of the 20s takes place in north London on Wednesday evening.

Coverage of the World Darts Championship final gets underway on Sky Sports Darts from 7pm on New Year’s Day – if you are out and about follow us @SkySportsDarts for updates, in-play clips and more while our website will track all the action, build-up and fall-out.