BLEACH FOR THE STARS

Snakebite: I’ve got bottle to win this

HAIR-TO-THE-THRONE Peter Wright insists he has the bottle to break his jinxed record in major finals against Michael van Gerwen tonight.

And to prove it, “Snakebite” Wright will spend two hours in the chair before going on stage while his wife Jo prepares his trademark mohawk and hair sculpture – from a bottle.

At 49, Wright goes through the same pre-match routine when he is on TV – and the result looks like happy hour in a paint factory.

But Scotland’s reigning World Cup holder has lost all 10 of his televised finals against Van Gerwen.

He beat Wright 7-4 in the final six years ago, but Snakebite believes he has acquired the necessary venom to settle the score.

He said: “I wasn’t ready to be world champion in 2014 – but I’m ready now. My record in finals is irrelevant, this is a totally different game. Someone is going to have to play well to beat me because I’ve got the game and I’ve got the focus.

“My friend Peter Evison sends me the odd text, saying, ‘You’ve got to be more ruthless’ and I got one from Barney (five-times world champion Raymond van Barneveld) before my semi-final telling me, ‘No more Mr Nice Guy.’

“He was right – I ended up being Not Mr Nice Guy and maybe have been too nice in the past – although I don’t like being nasty.”

Van Gerwen taunted him over his lousy head-to-head record in finals after he blew a 10-7 lead and missed three match darts to lose 11-10 in the Champions League final three months ago.

He said: “He bottles it every time he plays me. I think he’s a bit scared of me.”

But the former tyre fitter, who is shooting for a record £500,000 winner’s jackpot this evening, hit back, saying: “This is a fantastic chance to prove him wrong. If people want to talk about bottle, I could have gone out in the first round again – but I produced six darts to keep me in it and they have taken me all the way to the final.

“Why should I be scared of Michael? He’s playing rubbish! Forget what’s happened before – this is the one that matters because it turns your life around.

“I’ll be in bed well before midnight on New Year’s Eve – I’m not interested in all that Happy New Year stuff – get a life, go to bed, wake up and win £500,000.

Three-time champion Van Gerwen is odds-on to wear the crown a fourth time and convinced he will get under Wright’s skin again.

He said: “He knows I’ve got a huge advantage on him because I’ve beaten him so many times in the past.

“The longer the format, the more I’ll be the favourite. I’ve not produced my best game, but I don’t care – he’ll be more worried than me if I produce it in the final.”