The pair meet on Sunday evening in the last 16 of the PDC World Championship, with No 1 and reigning champion Humphries the clear favourite.
Here’s everything Wright and Humphries have said as their so-called “war of words” escalates.
“People think, ‘Oh, he should be retiring, he should be going to the old gits’ thing’ (the seniors tour). No, I’m not ready for that yet. I’m ready to upset Luke Littler. I’m here to upset Luke Humphries.
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This is fairly standard-issue bravado, but it forms part of a wider pattern of behaviour which has clearly rattled the mild-mannered Humphries.
And after beating Nick Kenny in the third round at Alexandra Palace, Humphries joined in with some digs of his own, pointing out his major titles record is similar to Wright’s despite being 25 years younger.
“All the pressure’s on him now because if he doesn’t the egg’s on his face, not mine. How many times have people said this is going to happen and this is going to happen and it never happens?
“I haven’t got there by other people having a little dig here and there, but it just gets me up for the contest a little bit more. If you trash talk someone like Peter has, he has to follow through with it, otherwise he will look the fool.”
His reaction may appear outsize, but Wright’s public and private words have clearly got to him. The pair meet on Sunday evening for a place in the quarter-finals on New Year’s Day.
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But it’s crucial to understand this is part of what has made him a great player. In his 20s, Wright attempted to make a career in darts, competing at the 1995 BDO World Championship, but struggled to break through and gave up.
In 2017, he told The Telegraph his own personality and Snakebite are “totally different”, saying “if you asked me to go play now, I’d probably be rubbish”.
But it worked. Since 2017, he has won the World Championship twice, the World Matchplay, the UK Open, Masters and Players Championship finals, as well as reaching the final of every other ranking major.
Will Wright’s ‘mind games’ help him beat Humphries?
Of course, the chances are that Humphries will be right, and Wright will end up with “egg on his face”. Although the 54-year-old played well to beat Wesley Plaisier and Jermaine Wattimena, Humphries is an entirely different calibre of opposition.
All this makes Humphries the clear favourite – unless Wright has knocked him off balance more than he’s letting on.
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