Wright is Nervous About Grand Prix Start
Peter Wright admits he is “nervous” about facing a short distance opening round in the BoyleSports World Grand Prix.
The World Champion faces a tricky Ryan Joyce clash at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry tomorrow night (Weds).
Wright, 50, also revealed he feels it’s still difficult to deal with playing without a crowd in the lead-up to the major event.
He said: “I’ve got a very tough opening game against Ryan Joyce who won one of the Summer Series events, so he’s a very good player. He’s been around a little while and he’s got to the World Championships before. He’s a handy player.
“I really only need to win six legs in theory. But it’s not that easy. I’m always nervous for the first round because it’s a short distance.
“It’s very difficult without fans. You bounce off the fans even if they are booing you. It gets your back up, you play better.
“If they are cheering you on it makes you play better. When you take a big outshot and 180s all that noise is part of the game, it’s been very hard this year. But we’ve got to bide by the rules.”
Wright has had his glory year as World Champion ripped apart by Covid-19. There has been no overseas World Series tournaments and very little raucous walk-ons in front of his adoring fans.
However, that has fired up Snakebite to retain his title in 2021.
He added: “It’s been good to be World Champion but obviously with everything that’s gone on it’s not been as nice as I would have liked going abroad as World Champion. I’ve just got to practice hard and make sure I’m World Champion for next year.
“Personally I start practising the doubles in July for this tournament. It’s very difficult.”
By Phil Lanning
Picture by Taylor Lanning