Mendham’s Peter Wright bowed out of the World Grand Prix after losing three sets in a row to Mensur Suljovic in the quarter-finals last night, writes Alex Moss.

The third seed had become the bookies’ favourite following the early exits of Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson, but the Suffolk ace saw his bid for a second major title of the season ended by the in-form Austrian.

A victory for Wright last night would have seen him climb above his World Cup partner Anderson and up to a career-high number two in the world, and the 47-year-old made a good start as he took the opening set in a deciding leg.

Sixth seed Suljovic, who beat Wright on the way to winning the Champions League of Darts last month, took out 122 on the bull in the first leg and also led 2-0 in the opener, before Wright capitalised on eight missed set darts from Suljovic to claim the lead.

However, Suljovic fought back after the break and won the second set without reply, taking out 99 with two double tops in leg three, and he repeated the whitewash scoreline in set three with checkouts of 48, 97 and 135.

Suljovic’s winning run continued in the next set as finishes of 60 and 56 put him 2-0 up and on the brink of a place in the semi-finals, but Wright claimed the next two legs to keep his hopes alive to take the set into a deciding leg.

In the decider, Suljovic had the throw and got off with his second dart in the double-start format, while Wright’s first visit saw him miss all three darts at the outer ring.

Wright found the double in his next visit but was now playing catch-up to the Austrian, who ensured his opponent would not get a chance at a finish as he posted a brilliant 141 checkout to eliminate the world number three.

Suljovic will face Australia’s Simon Whitlock, and van Gerwen’s conqueror John Henderson takes on Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney, in the semi-finals tonight, with the final to take place tomorrow.