Peter Wright predicted he’d be World Champion more than three weeks ago in WhatsApp message to darts maker Red Dragon
NEW PDC World Darts champ Peter Wright sent a text message predicting his win just TWO DAYS before the event started.
The Scot slept with the Sid Waddell Trophy - and showed off his hair transformation - after winning £500,000 on New Year’s Day following his 7-3 victory over world No 1 Michael van Gerwen.
Renowned for tinkering with his darts, Snakebite, 49, finally found the right flights early last month which would propel him to glory.
He said: “My darts set-up has changed. Lee at Red Dragon Darts has done a fantastic job.
“I did a drawing, sent it out to him and then he made the darts. I had them ten days before the Worlds.
“I sent him a message back saying ‘Thank you for making me the darts that will win me the world champs’.
“Michael played a different Wright, a different Snakebite, not the old one who used to bottle it. I came here with confidence.
“Years ago, when I started playing darts again, I said ‘I am going to win a world title before I am 50 years old’.
“On New Year’s Eve, when I woke up, I thought ‘Well, I’m 50 in March, so I’d best win it this year’.
“To go a career without winning it would have been really annoying. To have been the greatest runner-up in the world would have been disappointing.”
Now he has broken his Mighty Mike TV jinx, Wright’s next target is to nick his world No 1 crown.
He added: “I’m happy with my darts now and will throw away the others. Michael will get his revenge, maybe.
“If not, I will keep on top of him. By this time next year, I’m looking to push him close to be world No 1. If I win this title again, I will be there. That’s my target.”
Snakebite, who is known for his flamboyant clothing, painted head and dyed Mohawk, reckons his lucky UNDERPANTS were the key to this shock triumph. He joked: “My daughter bought me a pair of Space Jam pants for Christmas.
“They have a picture of the Tasmanian Devil on them to match my tattoo. They are my lucky pants now.
“I also always wear odd socks but I’ll keep wearing those pants and using the same darts from now on!”
The Suffolk-based star had lost TEN televised finals to MVG before his New Year’s Day triumph.
Wright first played in the 1995 BDO World Darts Championship at Lakeside and lost in the first round to eventual champion Richie Burnett.
And before that he was skint and struggled to hold down a proper job.
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Wright added: “I ended up on the dole for near enough five years.
“By the time you have paid your bills I was living on £7 a week.
“I’ve done tyre fitting, ground working, window fitting, labouring. Working in mid-February at -10C and in freezing water up to your ankles fitting pipes. It’s not nice.
“I worked the Morrison’s night shift, 12-hour shifts in the warehouse on the trolleys. I found hard jobs but I always loved my darts.”