Peter Wright hopes he can rediscover his form and start making his mark in what he believes is a great time for Scottish darts.
There have been glimmers that the 54-year-old could be heading back to his best.
He won the German Championship in September, beating Luke Littler in the final.
But overall, the two-time world champion has found the going tough in 2024, dropping from eighth to 14th in the rankings and failing to go beyond the last 16 in any of his last seven events. Heading into the Grand Slam of Darts, which starts in Wolverhampton on Saturday, Wright said Obviously winning that European event, I have got into it A lot of players from the top 10 in the world, I think three of them are not in it, so it is great to be there. I love the round-robin format. It is not like you get knocked out and you have to go home.”
Wright is also “working on a new throw” in a bid to revive his fortunes.
“I have tried it before but never stuck with it,” he said. “I was going to do it for the Matchplay, but I picked up another set of darts completely and used them and went back to a normal throw.
“I haven’t done a lot of practice this week. I just feel good mentally and that is it.”
Wright, who is a three-time Grand Slam of Darts runner-up, is in a group with fourth seed Rob Cross, Martin Lukeman and Leonard Gates, with the top two progressing.
Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies are the other Scots in the field.
Double world champion Anderson has been churning out impressive averages, climbing from 27th to 20th in the world rankings, while it has been a breakthrough year for Menzies on the main tour.
The 35-year-old Glaswegian, who recently won his maiden Players Championship title, has jumped 14 places to 40 in the standings.
“It is great,” Wright added. “Cameron is flying the flag. He is the one doing the consistency of averages and then Gary is doing ups and downs but some fantastic averages as well as.
“He is blowing people off the board the way he used to do. So hopefully I can start playing like those two and then we have really got something to shout about.”
