PETER WRIGHT wished Luke Littler a happy 17th birthday but revealed he has got rid of his trophies because of the teen sensation.
The two-time world champ was dumped out of the Bahrain Masters, losing 6-1 to Michael Smith in the quarter-finals on Friday night.
But Wright, 53, is convinced that he is on the right path to glory after changing his style and set-up.
He told Littler: “Have a great birthday. See you next week for another great tournament.
“I have got rid of all my trophies, got rid of all my darts, so I can start afresh. I want new trophies this year.
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“Last year was terrible and the year before that was terrible, but I’m looking forward to playing this year.
“I took time off last year and it didn’t work, we saw that in the Premier League. This year I am hitting everything again.
“Fingers crossed my mindset is to use one set of darts. If I can manage that all year, I’ll be happy and I can be a big threat to everyone.”
Wright has had a tough year - by this standards - only taking one major title at the European Championship.
But he remains defiant, adding: “The positives are that I thought I played alright. Scoring I thought was sort of getting there. The darts were going in at a nice angle, something to work on for the future.
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“Michael checked out great. He obviously didn’t play anywhere like he can.
“I feel positive going forward. I can get better with these darts. I’m looking forward to the future.
“I’m standing in a slightly different position as well, a couple of steps off centre on the right handside.
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“I feel like it’s going to be really good. I feel like I’ll be better than I ever was.”