Snakebite seals title after Ally Pally thriller

SCOTLAND’S Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright won the PDC World Championships for the second time with a 7-5 victory over Michael ‘Bully’ Smith in an enthralling tit-fortat battle in London last night.

The two rivals were slow out of the traps at Alexandra Palace, with the second leg of the first set lasting for an agonising 28 darts – the longest leg ever recorded at a World Championships final – before Smith eventually put them out of their misery by checking out.

The world No.9’s play early on each leg was solid enough as he steadily accrued 180s but the Englishman lacked the guile to check out as chance after chance was missed. Wright was far more ruthless, taking advantage of his opponent’s hesitation to race into a two-set lead. Check outs of 148 and 124 were particularly impressive.

That seemed to snap Smith into life, though, as he fought back to win the next two sets as he rediscovered his composure. A run of 180s in seven consecutive legs was remarkable, and a rare lapse in composure from Wright allowed Smith to draw level.

The fifth set fell the way of the Scotsman – who didn’t appear happy as he repeatedly changed darts between sets – but Smith recovered his momentum to lead 4-3 going into the eighth, where Wright held his nerve to squeeze past Wright in the final leg and restore parity.

‘Bully’ edged past his opponent in a nail-biting ninth set before Wright responded with an incredible run of eight consecutive leg victories to leave him on the cusp of victory.

Smith pulled one back to halt his momentum but it wasn’t enough as Wright won the final set 3-1.