Peter Wright says the recent health scares suffered by some of the top players should act as a warning sign amid darts' exhaustive schedule.

The world champion is one of the several players who have been knocked sideways by illness or injury in 2022 so far. Wright suffers from gallstones and was left in agony by the condition at the UK Open in March.

Gerwyn Price has had a hand injury, which saw him miss a week of Premier League action, and has spoken openly about the mental strain the PDC’s intense schedule has taken on him. Meanwhile, James Wade was taken ill during a European Tour event and spent three days in a German hospital, causing him to miss a Premier League night.

“I’ve had an appointment on the scan, it is gallstones and I’m just waiting on the surgeon to tell me what they’re going to do,” Wright told Online Darts TV ahead of this weekend’s US Darts Masters in New York.

“Then, however long the recovery is, I’ll just have to deal with it. [The advice is] don’t eat fatty foods, don’t eat greasy foods, don’t have lots of butter on your crumpets, which is… you can’t do it without. But as long as I’m being sensible I shouldn’t aggravate it and it shouldn’t get any worse.”

Wright says it is inevitable that he will have to miss some events to protect his health long-term.

“It’s great that we’ve got the opportunity to play in all these tournaments. Barry and Eddie [Hearn] have given the opportunity for players to earn money and maybe give up your job to become a professional darts player,” he added.

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“It’s up to yourself to choose if you don’t go to everything [tournaments]. If you go to everything, you’re going to go to your grave pretty early, unfortunately, even if you’re really healthy.

“There’s Gezzy [Price], who’s a really fit guy, and even he’s struggled mentally with it [the schedule]. Sometimes there’s only one day off and I’m away from home until the 20th of June.”

Wright begins his US Masters campaign in the first round against American number one Danny Baggish on Friday night.

Watch the bet365 US Darts Masters on Friday & Saturday from midnight (BST) through PDCTV. Buy a Summer Pass subscription at video.pdc.tv/subscribe. Delayed coverage available on ITV4 from 5pm on Saturday and 11.30am on Sunday.

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