Peter Wright is set to suffer the biggest ranking drop in the history of darts following his shock Ally Pally elimination.
Snakebite was dumped out of the PDC World Darts Championship in his opening second round clash with Jim Williams, who sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory. The two-time world champion and No. 4 seed was a distant second best against his Welsh opponent, averaging a mere 83.87 in the contest.
Wright's poor performance aptly bookends a disappointing year, which began just a few days after he was knocked out in the third round of last year's world championship. As such, he's set to plummet down the PDC Order of Merit, a ranking system calculated using prize money won over the past two years.
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Since January, Wright has seen a staggering £485,000 be wiped off his earnings. He was second in the rankings behind Michael Smith at the start of the year, but a run of dismal form ever since means he could drop provisionally down to seventh when the rankings are updated next month.
It is the biggest single sum of money any darts player has ever had removed from their ranking.
Fans on social media thought the threat of dropping down the Order of Merit might have been playing on Wright's mind as he struggled against pre-match underdog Williams at Ally Pally on Wednesday night.
Where will Peter Wright be in the rankings when they're updated in January? Let us know in the comments section below.
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"Wonder if the threat of a rankings drop was affecting Wright's performance?" one X user posted after his elimination. Another wrote: "Been poor results wise most of the year but tonight everything was so off.
"The darts he started with definitely didn't help either. I think the PL could well and truly finish him next season, he should decline imo and focus on the main tour and getting back to his best."
A third added: "You worry for Snakebite, that's a big blow."
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