Gerwyn Falls One Point Short But Pockets £70,000 In Compensation

By Dylan Williams

Gerwyn Price opened the night with an 8-3 victory over Peter Wright but his hopes of reaching next week’s play-offs at the O2 were later ended by Daryl Gurney.

Victory saw the Welshman momentarily jump above Gurney and Mensur Suljovic onto 18 points but recognised a win for one or the other would see him miss out.

And that’s precisely what transpired in the very next match as Superchin who’d clashed with Price in Sheffield last week conquered Michael Smith 8-3 to end The Iceman’s play-off dream.

“I’ve bombed a lot of opportunities,” Price told Live Darts. “I’ve had six or seven draws and five or six of those I should have won.

“I would have been wrapped up, could have finished top one or top two.

“I should have beat Rob (Cross), I should have beaten Michael (Van Gerwen). The only game I’ve drawn but should have lost was James Wade, but the rest I should have won every one of them.

“I still feel a bit disappointed I didn’t win last week [the controversial 7-7 draw with Gurney].’

On a night of complex permutations, the equation for Price was simple. If he was to have any chance of qualifying he’d need a win, and win he did in a high quality contest with the pair sharing four ton-plus finishes.

The Welshman opened the match with a finish of 106 but it was his checkout of 142 to complete a 12-darter at 2-2 which saw him reel off four consecutive legs, before resisting a 100 checkout from Snakebite to secure a comprehensive victory.

Price averaged 98.58 and hit five 180s in a quality performance in which he also made two 100+ checkouts and converted eight of his 18 attempts at doubles.

The Markham marksman finished the campaign with six draws, and he believes he should have won five of them, which cost him his place at The O2.

Price fell one point short of the play-offs but pocketed £70,000 in a massively improved performance in comparison to his debut Premier League season in 2018.

142 CHECKOUT!

What a start to this game as Price lands a 142 to lead once again!#Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/VdS2YJt5iK

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 16, 2019

“This year’s been a lot better,’ said the Grand Slam of Darts Champion.

“Last year I was in a different frame of mind, I was turning up week in, week out and I didn’t want to be here.

“This year, my lifestyle has changed, I’ve got different things going on in my life and I’ve been turning up wanting to be here. Obviously winning breeds confidence and I obviously wanted to be here.”

The destiny of the Unibet Premier League title will be determined next Thursday with the semi-finals and finals at The O2 in London.

Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross and James Wade join Gurney in the semi-finals next week.

Dutch destroyer Gerwen topped the table for a seventh straight year and will face Gurney in the last four, with Cross taking on Wade for the second successive week with Wade winning 8-6 in Leeds.