Peter Wright was visibly disappointed as he failed to keep running in Stephen Bunting’s defeat

Peter Wright was looking to repeat his success earlier this week as he was badly beaten by Steven Bunting.

Right from the back of one Unbelievable win against Luke Humphreys #1 in the worldand imagined his chance to run to the final stages of the competition.

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He will next take on fan favorite Bunting at Ally Pally to set up a possible semi-final with the winner of the match. Luke Littler vs. Nathan Aspinall

But the former two-time world champion could not turn back the years this time and Bunting took full advantage.

Unfortunately, Wright was a shadow of his recent form in this tournament and lost 5-2.

It was a stark contrast to his last performance and spells a tough year for the Scot, who has been struggling in 2024.

Bunting looked set for a big win after 4-0 against Snkit, putting the Scottish star on the brink of a quick exit.

However Wright showed his fighting instincts to win the next two sets to give Bunting some anxiety.

But the world No. 8 was able to take the next set to secure her place in Thursday night’s semi-finals.

However, victory means Bunting moves up to fifth in the world and takes home the £100,000 guaranteed prize money.

Reflecting on the win, Bunting said: “In the back room I was really nervous, on the edge. Peter Wright is a fan favorite, a great mate of mine and he’s my son’s favorite player, so I feel sorry for my son.

“I’m very happy to get over the line. For the first four sets, the fans were unreal – but you have to do better!

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“I knew I was in control but Peter was coming back. I just thought to myself, don’t let myself down, focus again, like I’ve been doing. Every game I’ve focused on that opponent. .

“I felt that Peter was going to go away a little bit and I was lucky that he did.

A lot of credit goes to Luke (Humphreys). He took his time to train with me, it was a program we did three or four months ago and it is paying off for me.

Putting my wits against the best player in the world has really helped, even if it didn’t show in the second half of that game – I was so nervous. Now I can wait for the tournament to continue.

“It’s a nervous thing.

“Unbelievable, world number five, wow. We just keep going. It’s quite emotional, I’ve been working really hard behind the scenes… I’m not going to cry.”

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