CRUSHED VAN GERWEN VOWS VENGEANCE
GERWYN PRICE, the former professional rugby player, is on the brink of a unique double tonight.
The Iceman once scored a try in a cup final at the Millennium Stadium – and now he is within touching distance of adding a darts world title.
Price had to fight harder than the most tenacious scrum to beat Stephen Bunting 6-4 in the William Hill PDC World Championship semi-finals.
But if he claims the £500,000 winner’s cheque at Alexandra Palace, he will also end Michael van Gerwen’s seven-year reign at No.1 in the world rankings.
Only Band Aid and tennis royalty Roger Federer have topped the charts for longer, so a changing of the guard is due.
Never mind bread of heaven – Price is at the gates of heaven, within touching distance of following Leighton Rees, Wayne
Warren, Richie Burnett and Mark Webster as the only Welshmen to win a world title.
He said: “I know how it feels to score a try in a big final – I played for Cross Keys when they beat Pontypridd in the Swalec Cup, which was the club’s first major trophy in their history.
“I never thought anything in sport would top that feeling, but the possibility of winning a darts world championship and becoming No.1 in the world would be incredible.
“That would give me a similar sort of buzz, but I never dreamed it would be possible.
“I hadn’t even picked up a dart when Cross Keys won that rugby final in 2012.
“It would be special to replicate that feeling in another sport.
“It’s not the end of the world if I come up short, but there can’t be many people out there who have won a major rugby cup and a darts world championship.
“Do I dream about being No.1 in the world? Yes, every day – who
STUNNED Michael van Gerwen surveyed the ruins of his world title dream at Ally Pally and warned rivals: “I’ll be back.”
The three-times champion crashed out on New Year’s Day with an astonishing 5-0 quarterfinal defeat at the hands of unfancied Dave Chisnall.
It was MVG’s heaviest-ever wouldn’t? That was the best I’ve played at this tournament – and I needed to because Stephen was hitting everything.
“But now I’m in the final, I’ve given myself a great chance of winning it – after that game I’m going to be full of beans, full of confidence.
“I’ll probably prepare quietly in my hotel room, watching Netflix for 12 hours and stuffing my face with doughnuts and kebabs!”
Although Price rarely freezes on the big occasion, at first the Iceman melted under pressure. For four sets, the Bullet came straight from Dirty Harry’s 44 Magnum – every time the target came into view, he simply didn’t miss.
Bunting (above) was a 250-1 outsider before the tournament and his wonderful run here came out of nowhere.
Three months ago, he tested loss at the PDC World Championship.
And ‘Chizzy’ handed Van Gerwen his first whitewash at the tournament since darts royalty Phil Taylor caned him 4-0 as a teenager 12 years earlier.
Top of the world rankings for seven years, Van Gerwen, 31, admitted: “I need to reflect for a few days on what happened. I let positive for Covid and he was isolating in the loft bedroom, living off bowls of soup his partner, Keila, left outside the door on their landing.
Sadly for the 35-year-old from St Helens, Price – the most consistent player on the PDC circuit for the last 12 months – was in no mood to surrender his dream.
Between them, they stacked up more ton-plus checkouts than Waitrose on Christmas Eve – 13 of them, a record for any match at the world championship.
Only when play was interrupted by Covidiots letting off fireworks directly outside Ally Pally – thanks for observing Tier 4 rules – was there any let-up in the barrage.
But when Price, who recovered from 3-1 down to play like a champion in waiting, nailed double top at the first time of asking, he was the biggest noise in town. myself down, and of course it hurts, but I need to find out why.
“My scoring power wasn’t there, which is unusual for me, but I can only blame myself – no-one else.
“Everyone I played, from the first round, played probably better than I ever saw them play before.
“In a way it’s a compliment when opponents raise their game against me, but I need to return to the practice board. “And I will be back.”
Van Gerwen had rushed back to London, to beat the pre-Christmas border lockdown, after spending just two hours with his wife and young children in Holland following his thirdround win over Ricky Evans.