WAYNE MARDLE has urged Peter Wright not to make any reactionary decisions following his shock World Championship exit.
The legendary thrower fell to a 3-0 defeat to German underdog Arno Merk on Tuesday.
The Scot was woeful and averaged just 79.2 in the defeat, losing in straight sets against the debutant.
Now Mardle has opened up on the impact that having such a big loss on the Ally Pally stage can have, and expressed concern for Wright’s future in the sport.
He admitted the match was grim viewing, but urged Wright to continue to back himself playing at the top level.
Mardle said on Sky Sports: “It was an awful watch – watching a champion, a legend of our sport, someone who has helped the sport grow, I didn’t enjoy it one bit.
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“I don’t know what questions Peter will ask himself – whether it’s like ‘it’s fine, I will carry on. I love the game’. And I hope that happens.
“He’s always said ‘I don’t want to retire, I love it’ so I don’t want him to have a knee-jerk reaction because it’s happened at the World Championship.”
Mardle is no stranger to heartbreaking losses on the Ally Pally stage, having reached the semi-final on four occasions himself, but never going any further.”
He continued: “If you play like that elsewhere, it’s okay. You don’t really think about it but when you do it at the World Championship, and I know this because I’ve done it, you end up questioning whether you are good enough to compete ever again.
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“And it’s about competing, about winning. He’s a winner. I hope he’s OK because you will think about that, that sleepless night stuff.
“I hope he doesn’t make one of these knee-jerk reactions like we have seen from other players.
“He’s been a classy ambassador for darts – brings that fun but also brings that amazing ability and a touch of class.”
Those sentiments are clearly not universal, with fellow former World Champ Michael van Gerwen urging the star to retire in a brutal assessment of his tournament exit.
When the Dutchman was asked about Wright’s performance after his win over William O’Connor, he said: “I’m not really surprised by his performance because he’s been playing c*** lately,
“I think it’s time for him to retire anyway.”
