The Iceman feels the heat – but manages to avoid upset
DEFENDING champion Gerwyn Price dug deep to come from behind and defeat Mervyn King 3-1 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix, writes Paul Mason.
Price opened the contest with a 116 finish, and went seven darts into a nine-dart finish, but had to watch King reel off three straight legs to take set one in their clash at the Morningside Arena in Leicester.
But top seed Price – nicknamed The Iceman – hit back to take the second set 3-1, and then edged the third in a decider to take the lead.
King led early in the fourth set, but Price won three legs in a row to seal his place in the last eight.
“I thought I played particularly well for most of the game but made a couple of slip-ups, and the main thing is that I won,” Price told pdc.tv.
“When I lost the first set, I was beating myself up, and I should learn not to do that because I was playing pretty well at the beginning.
“I think Merv pinched the first set and that really hurt me. I had to dig deep and it wasn’t the best performance and I need to improve on that game.”
The Welshman’s opponent in the quarter-finals will be Dave Chisnall, who came back from 2-0 down, and pinned a superb 135 checkout, to eventually pip Ross Smith 3-2.
Smith took the opening set with a 152 finish, and also doubled his lead before ‘Chizzy’ found his scoring power, eventually notching six maximums and a 130 finish to advance.
“I’ll never give up and I keep fighting,” Chisnall told pdc.tv.
“When I was 2-0 down, I thought I was going to get bashed 3-0 because I wasn’t playing well at all, and I just kicked in a gear.
“I started hitting the 180s and I felt good. I had to hit the 135 because he would have had a shot, so I’m over the moon to get the win.”
Ryan Searle became the first man into the last eight, averaging 92.09, and hitting five 180s on the way to a high class 3-1 win over Luke Humphries.
‘Heavy Metal’ also crashed in finishes of 140, 152 and 170, but withstood a spirited fightback from ‘Cool Hand’, who bust 100 in an attempt to level the match at 2-2.
Somerset-based Searle now moves into his first televised PDC quarter-final.
“I enjoyed that – it was a great game,” said Searle.
“That’s the way darts should be played, fair play to Luke and I believe in the future that me and him are going to be battling it out a little more.
“I feel like now I’m a different animal than I used to be, I’m more focused and I’m looking forward to the next round now. I can’t wait to get up on stage again.”
Stephen Bunting will be Searle’s quarter-final opponent.
‘The Bullet’ continued his scintillating form with a 3-1 win over James Wade.
Former Lakeside world champion Bunting took out 2017 Grand
Prix winner Daryl Gurney on Sunday, and backed that up with an impressive victory over Wade, who took the title in 2007 and 2010.
Bunting took the first set to nil with a stunning 132 checkout, and had further finishes of 107 and 102, defying Wade’s efforts to level the match as he pulled clear to secure a last eight place.
“I’m happy with the win and I really enjoyed it,” said Bunting, who now faces Searle.
“The last two people I’ve beaten have won the event.
“There were a lot of aspects of that game that I didn’t feel really comfortable with, but when you beat James Wade you’ve got to be happy - he’s such a great double-in, double-out player.
“Over the last 18 months since I’ve had my new darts, my scoring has been phenomenal.
“My first round was pretty special and my scoring was very good again tonight.
“The last few years have not been easy, but I actually feel like I’m playing