World champion Peter Wright has shared a snap in the hospital before going under the knife. The Scotsman was diagnosed with gallstones earlier this year and will now take some time away from darts to focus on his health.
He will now undergo a procedure to remove them and pulled out of the World Series of Darts events in Australia and New Zealand as a result. The 52-year-old tweeted a photo laying on a hospital bed while he waited to have his operation.
“So surgery day is here, finally,” he wrote. “I'm sorry to all my fans who expected 2 see me in Australia & New Zealand. But I had 2 make the choice between my health or the darts, unfortunately for my fans it was my health that won. I'm very nervous but I have @jowrighty8 by my side as always.”
Wright, 52, addressed his condition ahead of last month’s World Matchplay in Blackpool, where he reached the quarter-finals. “At the UK Open I felt like I was going to win that tournament, I felt great,” he explained. “I was playing Joe Cullen and I went into the practice area about three hours before my match and I didn’t get up to throw a dart.
"I didn’t throw a dart until 15 minutes before I went on stage. I was in pain and I was going to pull out. It’s not nice, it’s happened before in the Players Championship when I had no sleep for about a week.”
He added: “It could flare up at any moment, I am just trying not to eat crumpets caked in butter. I’m just waiting on a date to go in for an op, they will ring up when they’ve got space with a surgeon. The docs want to take my gallbladder out with keyhole surgery.”
Wright will be replaced in the Queensland Darts Masters, New South Wales Darts Masters and NZ Darts Masters by Dimitri Van den Bergh. "I'm devastated to have to miss the visits to Australia and New Zealand but after further medical checks I have to put my health first," Wright added.
"I was really looking forward to finally getting to Australia and New Zealand and being introduced Down Under as the reigning world champion in front of all the great fans there. I'll be doing everything I can to retain the World Championship and be back there next year instead."
