Gerwyn Price
Gerwyn Price | |||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Price in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | "The Iceman" | ||||||||||||||||||
Born | 7 March 1985 Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||
Home town | Markham, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||
Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||
Playing darts since | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||
Darts | 24 Gram Red Dragon | ||||||||||||||||||
Laterality | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||
Walk-on music | "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice | ||||||||||||||||||
Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||
PDC | 2014– | ||||||||||||||||||
Current world ranking | 6 ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||
PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||
World Ch'ship | Winner (1): 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
World Matchplay | Quarter Final: 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
World Grand Prix | Winner (1): 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
UK Open | Runner Up: 2017, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Grand Slam | Winner (2): 2018, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
European Ch'ship | Runner Up: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
Premier League | 5th: 2019, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
PC Finals | Runner Up: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
Masters | Quarter Final: 2018, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Champions League | Semi Final: 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||
World Series Finals | Winner (1): 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||
Other tournament wins | |||||||||||||||||||
European Tour Events
Players Championships
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Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||
2015 Breaks into the top 64 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time 2016 Breaks into the top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time |
Gerwyn Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is the current world champion, after winning the 2021 PDC World Darts Championship, to become the first ever Welshman to win the tournament. Price's victory saw him overtake Michael van Gerwen in the world rankings, becoming the new world No. 1.
He broke into the top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit in 2016 and soon afterwards won his first Pro Tour title. In 2017, he was the runner-up at the UK Open, Price's first major event final, and has also competed in the prestigious Premier League Darts tournament on three occasions, finishing 10th, 5th, and 5th, in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. Price achieved his biggest and most controversial victory in darts to date by winning the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts tournament, his first televised PDC major. He retained the title at the 2019 tournament.
Price has also played rugby union for Welsh Premier Division sides Neath and Cross Keys, Pro12 with Glasgow Warriors and rugby league with South Wales Scorpions.[2]
Rugby
Price played as a hooker for Welsh Premier Division sides Neath and Cross Keys as well as rugby league with South Wales Scorpions. He also had a brief spell at Pro12 side Glasgow Warriors as injury cover for their first choice players.[3] He ended his rugby career in 2014 in order to concentrate on playing darts full-time.[4]
Darts
Price began playing darts for his local side Markham Welfare, before playing in the Super League for Aberbargoed. Welsh darts professional Barrie Bates advised him to enter Qualifying School to join the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in January 2014 and Price was successful in the second event.[5] He won six matches on the day concluding with a 5–3 victory over Rowby-John Rodriguez to earn a two-year tour card.[6] He qualified for the 2014 UK Open, and lost 5–2 to Aden Kirk in the second round.[7] He twice reached the last 16 stage of Players Championship events during the first half of 2014, losing to Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting. In July, Price averaged 98.32 in beating former world number one Colin Lloyd 6–2 at the European Darts Open. In the second round he led Gary Anderson 2–0 but went on to lose 6–3.[8] At the 13th Players Championship, Price saw off Lloyd, Kirk, James Wade and Wayne Jones to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time, where he was edged out 6–5 by Adrian Lewis.[9]
Price qualified for the European Darts Trophy in Leipzig during mid September. There, he beat Bernd Roith 6–3 in the first round to face Steve Beaton in the second round. Thanks to a great performance, which included the tournament's highest finish of 167, he saw off Beaton 6–3 and won against Vincent van der Voort in the following round. He nearly qualified for the 2014 World Grand Prix, for which a place in the semi-finals was needed, but was beaten 6–3 in the quarter-finals by Andy Hamilton.[10] Price's impressive start to his darting career continued by reaching his first semi-final at the 19th Players Championship where he lost 6–3 to Ian White.[11]
2015
The £12,750 he earned in Pro Tour events during 2014 saw him finish 39th on the Order of Merit to claim the eighth of sixteen places that were on offer to non-qualified players for the 2015 PDC World Championship.[12] Price missed one dart at tops to level at one set all against Peter Wright in the first round and was beaten 3–0.[13] His successful year saw him start 2015 ranked world number 59.[14]
Price was knocked out of the preliminary round of the 2015 UK Open 5–2 by Matt Padgett.[15] On his way to his first quarter-final of the year, Price eliminated Adrian Lewis 6–4 with an average of 105.78 at the second Players Championship event, but he went on to lose 6–2 to James Wade.[16] At the Gibraltar Darts Trophy, Price defeated two top 16 players in Robert Thornton and Simon Whitlock to play in his second career European Tour quarter-final, where compatriot Jamie Lewis narrowly won 6–5.[17] In total during the first half of 2015 Price lost in four quarter-finals on the Pro Tour, and reached the semi-finals of the eighth Players Championship where he lost 6–4 to Adrian Lewis.[18] These results sealed his qualification for the World Matchplay through the Pro Tour Order of Merit with Price seeing off Michael Smith 10–4 in his début in the event. He then produced the performance of his career to date as he defeated two-time world champion Lewis 13–10, but could only average 88.17 in his first major quarter-final during a 16–7 defeat by Peter Wright.[19] Price met Smith again in the first round of the World Grand Prix with the tie going to a deciding set in which Price established a 2–0 leg lead. He would miss two match darts as Smith levelled and in the final leg Price was unable to score a point as he missed a total of 15 darts at doubles in the double-start event.[20] He led Ian White 9–8 in the second round of the Players Championship Finals, but went on to lose 10–9.[21]
2016
Andrew Gilding won each set in the first round of the 2016 World Championship by three legs to one in beating Price 3–0.[22] In February at the fifth UK Open Qualifier, Price defeated Mark Webster 6–1 and Mensur Suljović 6–3 to reach his first PDC final, but he was denied the title by world number one Michael van Gerwen who triumphed 6–2.[23] In the seventh Players Championship, Price won through to another final and this time took the title by coming back from 3–0 down against Peter Wright to win 6–3.[24] He also took the eighth event as he averaged 108 in the final during a 6–1 victory over Jamie Caven.[25] After knocking out Kim Huybrechts 10–8 at the World Matchplay, Price would face Adrian Lewis in the second round for the second year in a row. Before the match Lewis stated that Price's win over him 12 months ago was lucky and that Price was a "big mouth who's never won anything and never will win anything".[26] The pre-match tension seemed to affect both players as both averaged in the 80s with Lewis prevailing 11–5.[27] Price lost 2–0 in the first round of the World Grand Prix to Benito van de Pas, and 10–2 to Michael van Gerwen in the second round of the European Championship. Wins over Scott Waites and Robert Thornton saw him top his group on his début at the Grand Slam of Darts.[28] He missed one match dart against Brendan Dolan in the last 16 in a 10–9 defeat.[29]
2017
After taking the opening set against Jonny Clayton in their first round match at the 2017 World Championship, Price lost three in a row to be beaten 3–1.[30] He was ranked 20th on the Order of Merit afterwards.[31] He defeated Justin Pipe 10–5, David Pallett 10–4 and Paul Hogan 10–6 at the UK Open to reach the quarter-finals. Ian White was on 20 to win 10–9, but hit a double 15 to burst his score and Price stepped in with a 160 checkout to progress through to the semi-finals where he was locked at 9–9 with Alan Norris. Norris missed three darts to take the 19th leg and Price finished 100 with two double tops, before breaking throw in the next to win 11–9. In his first major final he was 7–2 down to Peter Wright, before reducing his deficit to 8–6. However, Price then lost the last three legs to be beaten 11–6.[32][33]
Victories over Finland, Ireland and Russia helped Price and Mark Webster into the semi-finals of the World Cup. A pair of 4–2 wins over the Belgian team of Kim and Ronny Huybrechts saw them play in the final, where their only point came courtesy of a Webster win over Raymond van Barneveld as they went down 3–1 to the Dutch.[34]
2018
In the 2018 World Championship, Price won in the first round of the World Championship for the first time when he beat Ted Evetts 3–0. In the second round Price beat Ian White 4–1. In the third round Price faced the defending World Champion Michael van Gerwen. Van Gerwen won the first two sets but then Price won seven legs in a row to go two sets all and ahead in the fifth set. Van Gerwen won the fifth and sixth set which meant Price lost the match 2–4.
Following good performances over 2017 Price was selected as a wildcard for the 2018 Premier League Darts tournament. Despite good draws against world number 2 Peter Wright and 2017 World Grand Prix winner Daryl Gurney, Price failed to register a victory and was eliminated on week nine's judgement night at the Echo Arena Liverpool.
Price started to show some consistency in the televised majors in 2018, reaching the quarter finals of the Masters, UK Open, World Grand Prix and European Championship. He also won a European Tour event in September, the International Darts Open in Germany, just 2 months after having an operation to repair a broken achilles heel. In November, Price, as a 40/1 outsider at the start of the event, won his first televised PDC major by winning the Grand Slam of Darts, with come from behind wins against Simon Whitlock in the quarter finals and surviving match darts to win 16–15, against Mensur Suljović by 16–12 in the semi finals, and against Gary Anderson by 16–13 in the final. With his controversial Grand Slam of Darts victory, Price was the first Welshman to win a PDC televised major.[35]
2019
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Gerwyn_Price_6-3_Simon_Stevenson_-_Gerwyn_Price_-_2019250160854_2019-09-07_PDC_European_Darts_Matchplay_-_0727_-_B70I7097.jpg/280px-Gerwyn_Price_6-3_Simon_Stevenson_-_Gerwyn_Price_-_2019250160854_2019-09-07_PDC_European_Darts_Matchplay_-_0727_-_B70I7097.jpg)
In the 2019 World Championship, Price lost 3-2 to Nathan Aspinall in the second round despite leading 2-0 in sets. In January 2019, Gerwyn Price was hit with a record fine by the Darts Regulation Authority due to his actions at the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts. In total he was fined £21,500 for his actions during his victory at the Grand Slam of Darts. He was fined £12,000 for gamesmanship in the Final of the Grand Slam of Darts against Gary Anderson. He was fined £8,000 for gamesmanship in his quarter-final game against Simon Whitlock. He was also fined £1,500 for social media posts following his events, which were directed towards the beaten finalist Gary Anderson. His fine was reduced on appeal to a total of £11,500.[36]
Gerwyn's second Premier League Darts campaign saw him just miss out on a play-off spot, as he finished 5th.
In October 2019, Price reached the final of the European Championship beating Ted Evetts, Nathan Aspinall, Vincent van der Voort and Michael Smith on the way. However, he lost the final to Rob Cross 11–6.
In November 2019, Price successfully defended his Grand Slam of Darts title beating Peter Wright 16–6 in the final after defeating Gary Anderson in the quarter-final and recording his first career win over Michael van Gerwen in the semi-final. Price then reached the final of the Players Championship, where he was the top seed due to his performances on the Pro Tour. He was narrowly beaten 11-9 by van Gerwen after missing four darts to take the match into a deciding leg.
2020
Price's 2019 season meant he entered the 2020 World Championship as the second favourite behind van Gerwen. He reached the semi-final by defeating three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant, but he was eventually defeated by Peter Wright, who went on to win the title.
In March Price reached the 2020 UK Open final, his second UK Open final, losing to Michael van Gerwen 11–9.[37] Price won two televised titles for the first time in 2020; winning the 2020 World Series of Darts Finals with a win over Rob Cross[38] and winning the World Grand Prix by beating Dirk van Duijvenbode 5–2 in the final.[39]
2021
Price went into the 2021 World Championship as third seed. He came thorough a last set decider against fellow Welshman Jamie Lewis[40] and a sudden death last leg decider against 30th seed Brendan Dolan[41] to reach the fourth round, where he took a 4–1 win over Mervyn King to reach the quarter-final for the second consecutive year.[42] He beat Daryl Gurney in another last leg decider[43] and beat Stephen Bunting 6–4 to set up a final clash with Gary Anderson.[44] Price beat Anderson 7–3 to win his first PDC World Championship; and replace Michael van Gerwen as world number one.[45][46][47]
World Championship results
PDC
- 2015: First round (lost to Peter Wright 0–3)
- 2016: First round (lost to Andrew Gilding 0–3)
- 2017: First round (lost to Jonny Clayton 1–3)
- 2018: Third round (lost to Michael van Gerwen 2–4)
- 2019: Second round (lost to Nathan Aspinall 2–3)
- 2020: Semi-finals (lost to Peter Wright 3–6)
- 2021: Winner (beat Gary Anderson 7–3)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 8 (4 titles, 4 runners-up)
Legend |
World Championship (1–0) |
World Grand Prix (1–0) |
Grand Slam (2–0) |
UK Open (0–2) |
European Championship (0–1) |
Players Championship Finals (0–1) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | UK Open | ![]() |
6–11 (l) |
Winner | 1. | 2018 | Grand Slam of Darts | ![]() |
16–13 (l) |
Runner-up | 2. | 2019 | European Championship | ![]() |
6–11 (l) |
Winner | 2. | 2019 | Grand Slam of Darts | ![]() |
16–6 (l) |
Runner-up | 3. | 2019 | Players Championship Finals | ![]() |
9–11 (l) |
Runner-up | 4. | 2020 | UK Open | ![]() |
9–11 (l) |
Winner | 3. | 2020 | World Grand Prix | ![]() |
5–2 (s) |
Winner | 4. | 2021 | World Championship | ![]() |
7–3 (s) |
PDC world series finals: 1 (1 title)
Legend |
World Series of Darts Finals (1–0) |
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] |
Winner | 1. | 2020 | World Series of Darts Finals | ![]() |
11–9 (l) |
PDC team finals: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team | Teammate | Opponents in the final | Score[N 1] |
Runner-up | 1. | 2017 | World Cup of Darts | ![]() |
Mark Webster | ![]() |
1–3 (m) |
Winner | 2. | 2020 | Jonny Clayton | ![]() |
3–0 (m) |
Performance timeline
Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranked televised events | ||||||||
PDC World Championship | DNP | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | SF | W |
UK Open | 2R | Prel. | 3R | F | QF | SF | F | |
World Matchplay | DNQ | QF | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | |
World Grand Prix | DNQ | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | 1R | W | |
European Championship | DNQ | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | F | 2R | |
Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | 2R | RR | W | W | 2R | ||
Players Championship Finals | DNQ | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | F | SF | |
Non-ranked televised events | ||||||||
Premier League Darts | Did not participate | 10th | 5th | 5th | ||||
The Masters | Did not qualify | QF | 1R | QF | ||||
Champions League of Darts | Not held | Did not qualify | SF | NH | ||||
World Cup of Darts | DNQ | 2R | F | QF | 1R | W | ||
World Series of Darts Finals | NH | DNQ | 2R | QF | SF | 2R | W | |
Career statistics | ||||||||
Year-end ranking | NR | 33 | 19 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
Performance timeline legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DNP | Did not play in the event | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament (RR = Round robin) (Prel. = Preliminary round) |
QF | lost in the quarter-finals |
SF | lost in the semi-finals | F | lost in the final | W | won the tournament |
Personal life
In 2010, Price was punched outside a pub in Bargoed which required 42 stitches to his forehead and five to his chin, as well as suffering a brain haemorrhage and nerve damage to an eyebrow. His attacker received a 12-month jail term. This happened whilst working as a bouncer in Yates' bar.[citation needed] Price also received a suspended sentence for assaulting another man in a related incident.[48]
Following Price's controversial victory in the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts final, he spoke out about how his then-12-year-old daughter, Emily, had received online abuse on Twitter, in relation to his antics in the Grand Slam final. He called on his own followers to report the troll, and said that he wanted the culprit "kicked off of Twitter".[citation needed]
Notes
References
- ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDPA. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
- ^ "Gerwyn Price has left Cross Keys to join Neath". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- ^ "Scorpions snap up former Neath hooker Gerwyn Price". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ "PDC World Championship: Gerwyn Price drops rugby for darts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
- ^ "Keys hooker Gerwyn Price on target to become darts pro". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ "2014 PDC Qualifying School Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ "Coral UK Open – Friday Afternoon". PDC. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ^ "European Darts Open Second Round". PDC. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "Six Of The Best For Anderson". PDC. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ "European Darts Trophy Final Day". PDC. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ "Diamond Dazzles To Seal Coventry Crown". PDC. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ "William Hill World Championship Field". PDC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
- ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ "Order of Merit on 5 January 2015". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ^ "Coral UK Open – Friday Afternoon". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Barnsley Win For Wondrous Wade". PDC. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "Rock Solid van Gerwen's Gibraltar Glory". PDC. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "Brilliant Brown's Maiden ProTour Win". PDC. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ "2015 World Matchplay Results". Darts Database. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ^ "partypoker.com World Grand Prix – Sunday". PDC. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Cash Converters PCF – Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
- ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Seven". PDC. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ "Van Gerwen Continues Winning Run". PDC. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
- ^ "Gerwyn Price beat Peter 'Snakebite' Wright to win Players Championship Seven". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ "Coventry Win Seals Price's Second Title". PDC. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "Adrian Lewis sparked a verbal battle with Gerwyn Price at the World Matchplay". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "Adrian Lewis defeats Gerwyn Price at World Matchplay and continues war of words". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "Gerwyn Price 2016". Darts Database. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "SINGHA Beer Grand Slam – Wednesday". PDC. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "William Hill World Championship Day Two". PDC. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ^ "Order of Merit on 3 January 2017". PDC. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ "Coral UK Open Joy For Wright". PDC. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "UK Open: Peter Wright beats Gerwyn Price in Minehead". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Dutch Delight In Betway World Cup of Darts". PDC. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ "Grand Slam of Darts: Gerwyn Price beats Gary Anderson in bad-tempered final". BBC Sport. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "DRA Statement: Gerwyn Price Appeal". PDC. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "Ladbrokes UK Open glory for nine-dart Van Gerwen". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "bwin World Series of Darts Finals glory for Price". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Phillips, Josh. "Price defeats Van Duijvenbode to win World Grand Prix". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Price, Sian. "PDC World Championship: Gerwyn Price beats fellow Welshman Jamie Lewis to reach third round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "PDC World Championship: Gary Anderson says fans would have been better watching Coronation Street". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ "PDC World Championship: Gary Anderson reaches quarter-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ Allen, Dave. "2020/21 William Hill World Darts Championship quarter-finals". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Chris. "2020/21 William Hill World Championship Semi-Finals". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Chris. "2020/21 William Hill World Championship Final". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Chris. "The race to be world number one: Price poised to reach pinnacle". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Gerwyn Price sweeps Gary Anderson aside to clinch first PDC world darts title". Guardian. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ "Rugby player hospitalised after brawl outside Bargoed pub". Wales Online. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
External links
- Player profile for Gerwyn Price from Dartsdatabase
- Living people
- Professional Darts Corporation current tour card holders
- Welsh darts players
- 1985 births
- Welsh rugby union players
- Welsh rugby league players
- South Wales Scorpions players
- Glasgow Warriors players
- Cross Keys RFC players
- PDC world darts champions
- World Series of Darts winners
- World Grand Prix (darts) champions
- Grand Slam of Darts champions
- PDC World Cup of Darts Welsh championship team