The Ice Man Is Feeling Chilled As Gerwyn Price Enjoys Trip To The Baltic

Gerwyn Price. Pic. Alamy

World champion in 2021, Gerwyn Price has sometimes struggled to repeat those heights, but after time out of the world’s top 10, The Iceman is back, as Ian Mitchelmore reports.

Gerwyn Price continued his mesmerising run of form with victory at the Baltic Sea Darts Open last weekend.

The 40-year-old defeated William O'Connor, Wessel Nijman, world number one Luke Humphries, Chris Dobey and two-time world champion Gary Anderson at the Wunderino Arena to win the trophy in addition to the £30,000 top prize in Kiel.

“I think I played pretty well all weekend, so I’m really chuffed,” said Price.

“Gary wasn’t at his best in the final and obviously I can play better, but I’m just really pleased to get over the line and get another European Tour title under my belt."

Following his success, it was also telling that Price mentioned his latest prize winnings - which are used to calculate the Order of Merit (rankings).

“I needed some ranking points leading up to the back end of the year, so this £30,000 definitely helps," he said.

That five-figure sum saw Price rise up to ninth in the rankings, just £45,750 behind compatriot Jonny Clayton, who is fifth.

So, with a trip to Blackpool on the horizon, there is more than just World Matchplay glory at stake for Price - who faces Daryl Gurney in round one on Monday night.

The Welshman's target is now to get his hands on the prestigious Phil Taylor Trophy for the first time - with his loss to Michael van Gerwen in the 2022 final at Winter Gardens still sitting in his thoughts.

“I’ve lost in the final before, so now I need to lift that trophy,” he said.

“I won in Poland, I reached the semi-finals and final on the ProTour [last week], so to come here [Kiel] and win definitely puts me in good stead ahead of the World Matchplay.

“I’m playing really well at the moment, but it’s all on the day. There are so many good players in the tournament, so anybody can win it.”

As Price himself mentioned, he is in red-hot form heading into the tournament on the west coast of Lancashire.

Since being beaten by Humphries in the semi-finals of the US Darts Masters in late June, Price has won 20 of his 22 PDC matches, with his only defeats coming against Bradley Brooks in the Players Championship 21 final and Damon Heta in the semi-finals of Players Championship 20.

It is a two-week run that has seen him claim both the Baltic Sea Darts Open and Poland Darts Masters titles in addition to banking a combined total of £75,000 in prize winnings.

The triumph in Germany also saw the former rugby player join Peter Wright in second spot on the all-time list of European Tour winners, with only van Gerwen now ahead of the pair.

So, all in all, the 2021 world champion could not be heading to Blackpool in better nick.

With little more than half of the calendar year gone, Price has already won three Premier League nights, three Players Championship titles, a World Series event and a European Tour title.

Premier League aside, the second half of the year is where the biggest titles and prize money are won, and there's no doubting that Price goes into the Matchplay as the form player on the planet.

Naturally, with such significant rewards on offer in Blackpool, the stakes only rise higher among the competition.

But it seems Price is hell-bent on showing his time outside the top 10 in the world rankings will not be replicated any time soon.