In the past twelve months, Wright has brought in more than twice as much prize money as any of the opponents. The Scottish one-off had previously won the World Matchplay, the second most important tournament in the world, as well as the Team World Cup together with John Henderson. The trickiest World Cup game before the final was probably the quarter-finals against England’s Callan Rydz, when Wright won with great difficulty 5-4.
For “Bully Boy” Smith, the second World Cup final after 2019 was also lost – at that time he was defeated 3: 7 by Dutchman Michael van Gerwen. The 31-year-old Smith had previously shone at this World Cup and with his top performances removed the two favorites Price and Jonny Clayton (also from Wales) from the tournament.