PETER WRIGHT has praised the performance of Jamie Lewis following the number two seed's exit at the William Hill World Darts Championship.
Qualifier Lewis continued his dream run at Alexandra Palace with a career-best performance as he romped to a 4-1 win over the UK Open champion on Wednesday.
Lewis averaged 107.27 and landed 13 maximums as he came from a set down to claim an impressive victory over one of the pre-tournament favourites for the title.
Despite seeing his own preparations hampered by a bout of gallstones during December, Wright averaged 103 in reply but paid tribute to the performance of Lewis.
"I was rusty but I still enjoyed the game and I wish him all the luck," said Wright. "The darts Jamie was flying in, I don't think my preparation had anything to do with that.
"Jamie has been around for quite a few years and it's good to see, I'm proud to be on that stage with him playing darts like he did.
"He's proving to the world that he can play darts and has a chance to win the title.
"It is a missed opportunity, but I still took Jamie Lewis like I was playing Adrian Lewis, Phil Taylor or Michael van Gerwen; I wasn't relaxed, I didn't take him easy.
"We can all throw darts like Michael van Gerwen, and Jamie proved that. It's good to see.
"I'm looking forward to, in five years time when I'm retired with my feet up, sitting on my sofa watching the top five in the world which should be Jamie Lewis, Keegan Brown, Dimitri [Van den Bergh], Josh Payne and Michael Smith.
"Those guys will be top five, top ten in the world and I'm going to be a very happy to watch and have had to play against these guys."
The second round exit was a disappointing way for Wright to end his most successful year, having won the UK Open and German Darts Masters amongst 11 tournament victories in his rise to second in the world.
He will now enjoy a month's break before returning to action in the Unibet Masters at the end of January in Milton Keynes, and is already setting his sights high in 2018.
"Next year I'm hoping to double what I've done this year," he stated. "I think I'll do that, definitely.
"If you don't set yourself targets, there's no point playing the game."