PETER WRIGHT was lost for words after beating Jermaine Wattimena – and had to cut short his post-match interview.
The 54-year-old star battled his way past the Dutchman to reach the last-16 of the PDC World Championship.
Snakebite has endured a tough 2024 and was written off by many before a dart was thrown at Ally Pally.
He’s since found form at just the right time, beating European Championship runner-up Wattimena 4-2 on Friday.
Sky Sports host Abigail Davies questioned Wright on the Palace stage following his win.
But Wright – struggling with a nasty cough – could barely croak his way through the interview.
The two-time world champion has been struggling with the lurgy throughout the last few days.
He spluttered to Davies: “Obviously, Jermaine felt sorry for me.
“It wasn’t affecting my darts, holding my breath. Hopefully I feel a little bit better [in the next round].”
Davies didn’t attempt to push for another question with Wright clearly struggling to get his words out.
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She cut the interview short, with the Ally Pally favourite set to face the defending champ Luke Humphries in the next round.
One fan wrote on X: “That was the best performance from Peter Wright in months, and he was clearly ill. It shows that if he just keeps using this set of darts, he can still beat anybody.”
While another said: “Peter Wright hitting a 10-darter with a chest infection. Never tell me these men aren’t elite level athletes.”
Wright spoke to SunSport prior to the tournament and revealed he had been hard at work changing his action.
The Scot said: “I’m working on a new throw, sort of.
“It’s not new, I’ve tried it before but never stuck with it. So hopefully that will be really good by January 2.
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“I started to get a bit of form in Australia and New Zealand. If I was losing it was tight games.
“Then the birth of our grandson Cody helped spur me on to go and win the European.”
Wright will now face Humphries on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
A confident Cool Hand said: “I’m really looking forward to playing him.
“He’s a top guy, he’s a two-time former world champion. He’s got massive experience and I respect him a lot.”
