Laying off the boos helped me lift title
PRICE SAYS FAN LOCKOUT AND NO HECKLERS HELPED HIM TO WORLD CROWN
GERWYN PRICE admits he might have missed out on world title glory if his chorus line of hecklers had not been locked out and silenced.
The Iceman completed his astonishing journey from novice to PDC world champion in just seven years with his 7-3 triumph in the final against Gary Anderson at London’s Alexandra Palace. But Price wonders if he could have finished the journey from public enemy No.1 to No.1 in the world with his tormentors providing the soundtrack. Fans have not always taken kindly to Gezzy’s fist pumps and highdecibel celebrations. Price ( left) admitted: “I know what it’s like when the crowd turns against you but those times were the making of me as a player. Over the last 24 months they have moulded me into the player I am. There were a couple of games in this tournament where I wondered what would have happened if the fans had been there.
“Two years ago, when I played Nathan Aspinall and I was 2-0 up, they got on my back and I lost 3-2.
“If the fans had been here this year, I don’t know if I would have lifted the trophy. Sometimes it can be tough when they are on your back.
“Will they cheer me now I’m a world champion? It will be a surprise but I hope they do. Hopefully I have been able to show that I do actually play some decent darts.
“Maybe they can give me a little bit of respect.”
When Price went to Q School to try to win a PDC Tour card, Michael van Gerwen had just taken over from Phil Taylor as No.1 in the world. Astonishingly, the oche’s new Prince of Wales has become the first man to knock MVG off his perch.
Price’s wife, Bethan, did not want him to give up playing rugby as a hooker for Neath and Cross Keys, which brought in around £500 a week. He has just landed £500,000 for three weeks’ work.
He grinned: “She didn’t want me to do it because she didn’t like the change, but I said, ‘I am doing all right in darts, I want to give up and finish the rugby.’ Now I say to her, ‘ Well, a few years ago you didn’t want me to finish, shall I go back to rugby?’
“And she’s like, ‘Oh, no. You can play darts, it’s fine!’ Rugby was the main income for me. She was working as a legal assistant in Cardiff with a solicitors’ firm and it was a difficult choice to make.
“But I was doing all right at the time when I decided to make that change. And I was earning more money in darts than I was in rugby.
“I never thought that
I would pick this trophy up (above). I thought I could possibly get into the top 32, earn a decent living. Now I am top of the tree and I am holding the biggest trophy possible.”
Price, 35, has become a hero in his homeland with messages from Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, rugby legend Jonathan Davies, and the ‘ Power’ himself, Phil Taylor.
And pantomime villain or not, Price is the fittest darts world champion in history. No flab, no sixpacks at half-mast.
“There are a lot of boys who look after themselves now – it is a positive when you are in good shape, especially in longer formats of the game,” he said.
“Hopefully I can inspire a few youngsters and a few other players to get into better shape and find a new lease of life.”