Peter Wright rules himself out of World Cup of Darts
Peter Wright has revealed he will not be competing in this year’s World Cup of Darts due to travel concerns.
Wright partnered Gary Anderson to glory for Scotland in last year’s PDC World Cup of Darts but will not be making himself available to defend the title.
The 2020 World Cup of Darts is due to take place from November 6-8 in Graz, Austria, with 32 teams of two players competing in a mixture of doubles and singles formats.
Wright, 50, will not be making the trip to Austria due to concerns over travelling abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is also understood his World Cup winning team-mate Anderson will also sit out the tournament due to travel concerns, having recently missed both the Autumn Series and World Series Finals.
Reigning World Champion Wright told The Weekly Dartscast: “Unfortunately, I’m not playing [in the World Cup] either.
“I can understand Gary when he says why he doesn’t travel, getting on a plane, and stuff like that.
“I thought about it a long time, and it’s another reason why I’ve pulled out of the two Europeans [events in Sindelfingen and Riesa] coming up.
“It’s not because of people not doing their jobs properly, but there’s a few idiots breaking the rules and you could pick it [the virus] up.
“Poor Adrian Lewis and Stephen Bunting missing out [on the World Grand Prix after positive Covid tests]. I think they probably caught that when we was in Germany.
“It’s unfortunate, but I’ve won the World Cup with Gary. I’ve achieved my dream of winning it for Scotland, but I won’t be playing in another World Cup.”
John Henderson (35th) and Robert Thornton (68th) are now in line to form the Scotland side for the World Cup, should they opt to travel.
Though he has also withdrawn from the two upcoming European Tour events in Germany, Wright admitted he will be competing in the European Championship in Oberhausen from October 29 to November 1.
He added: “You’ve got to think of your health and safety, and family.
“If the World Championships are abroad, then we’ll be driving there.
“That’s what we’re going to do for the European Championship.
“Fingers crossed things can change really quickly and we can get a vaccine out to help everybody.”
The line-ups for the upcoming World Cup of Darts are yet to be finalised, with the event set to be held in front of a limited capacity crowd.
