Michael Van Gerwen takes fresh swipe at Peter Wright after World Darts Championship exit

The three-time champion eased past William O’Connor 3-1, but rival Wright suffered a shock loss to Arno Merk, wrecking plans for another meeting between the old rivals

Peter Wright of Scotland looks on against Arno Merk of Germany (Getty Images)

Michael van Gerwen has claimed it’s time for Peter Wright to retire after the two-time world champion crashed out of the World Darts Championship in the second round.

‘MVG’ and ‘Snakebite’ have clashed throughout their careers, with the pair on a collision course to meet in the third round of this year’s tournament at Alexandra Palace.

But the Scot fell to Arno Merk, despite his bullish approach this year, having declared that he would definitely go on to win the tournament, only to lose 3-0 to the German.

Dutch star Van Gerwen thrived against William O’Connor, beating out the Irishman 3-1, though he conceded he is not shocked at Wright’s early exit.

"You want me to answer this? I can answer this really easily,” Van Gerwen said. “I'm not really surprised by his performance because he's been playing crap lately and for him it's time to retire anyway.”

Van Gerwen also underlined how his performance against O’Connor “could be good enough to go all the way,” adding: “I know I’m capable of more, some games I can play more poor and some games you need to do a little bit more.

“I know exactly when the time is there, you have to do more, I’m not stupid, I know exactly, I’ve been here a few times before.

“It’s a big advantage to have a lot of experience, it doesn’t always work like that, you have to believe in your ability, I work really hard to produce some good darts, and the rest? I don’t really care.

Meanwhile, Gary Anderson defended Wright after his early loss at Ally Pally, outlining how consistency at the top is not realistic.

Peter Wright endured a tough afternoon at Ally Pally (Adam Davy/PA)

“We can’t play well all the time, people think we’re robots and that you've got to play well all the time,” the Scot said. “Or a bad couple of games, 'he's finished' or 'he's retiring', give him a break, we can't keep doing it.

“We've seen Michael do it, probably the last decade, he has a blip, he's finished? Give the bloke some time, we can’t keep doing it month after month, year after year, it would be nice, but you can't do it."

Merk, on debut, was full value for the win against Wright and admitted his surprise at his win, with his opponent only able to produce a lowly 79.20 average.

“I am stunned, I can’t believe it, I just beat a legend, I am so happy,” Merk said on stage. “I am early in my work, so I am really happy.”