Wright whitewashes Van Gerwen with 133.60 average at Cheltenham Masters!

Peter Wright produced some of the greatest darts ever seen to whitewash world champion Michael van Gerwen in the final of the Spectre Cheltenham Darts Masters at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday evening.

Snakebite averaged an astonishing 133.60 to dismantle Van Gerwen 4-0 in a star-studded exhibition event, despite ‘The Green Machine’ averaging an incredible 120.86 himself! Nevertheless, Van Gerwen was helpless against Wright’s brilliance.

The Scottish star landed five maximums inside four legs; whilst he also registered four 140+s and three tons. Wright converted a majestic 140 checkout en route to victory and conjured up a sublime 10-dart leg to stun the world number one. Snakebite used just 45 darts to prevail, with his winning legs coming in 12, 11, 10 and 12 darts respectively.

Yet whilst MvG was well beaten on the night, he still secured some bragging rights. In the third leg, Wright hit seven perfect darts but was unable to complete the perfect nine-darter. Van Gerwen wasn’t on a finish himself but hit T20, T19, D12 to register a visit of 141 and show the Scot how it’s done!

Although this wasn’t a competitive event, Wright’s average nearly usurped Kyle Anderson’s world-record average which was recorded in a Players Championship event back in April 2015. ‘The Original’ averaged 134.84 in dismantling Terry Jenkins 6-1; using just 77 darts to seal victory.

This isn’t the only time Van Gerwen has been on the receiving end of a record-breaking whitewash. Michael Smith previously averaged 132.50 over three legs in defeating MvG in a PDC Youth event. However, ‘Mighty Mike’ turned the tables last year; thrashing Smith 7-1 in the Premier League with a world-record televised average of 123.40.

Although Wright’s spectacular triumph only consisted of four legs, it is still a remarkable accomplishment. He performed superbly throughout the evening, averaging almost 120 in defeating former World-Youth champion Arron Monk 4-3, before thrashing 16-time world champion Phil Taylor 4-1 in the semi-finals.

Snakebite has been in the form of his career over recent months. He won three of the six UK Open qualifiers hosted in Wigan over the last fortnight; subsequently topping the UK Open Order of Merit. The world number three also ended his 16-match losing streak against Van Gerwen on the way to winning his second of those titles in Wigan.

Additionally, just twenty-four hours prior to his Cheltenham heroics, Wright defeated his compatriot and two-time world champion Gary Anderson in a pulsating Premier League tussle. Peter prevailed 7-5 with a 109.48 average, after recording four ton-plus checkouts in the opening six legs of the contest. What next for the sensational Snakebite?

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC