Price Powers On

Former World Grand Prix winner Gerwyn Price marched on at the 2023 World Grand Prix, continuing his run without dropping a set after beating Martin Schindler 3-0 at the Morningside Arena.

The Iceman was in a ruthless mood in the opening match of the night at the Morningside Arena, missing just 5 darts at double in winning the opening 2 sets in relation to finishing legs.

The Welshman found double ten with his last dart in hand to secure a 9-1 win in legs over the Wall, setting up a mouth watering Semi Final against World Champion Michael Smith who beat Andrew Gilding 3-0 later in the night, with Bully Boy like his opponent yet to drop a set in the tournament.

“Martin was way off the pace, so I just had to concentrate on my own game, I’m nowhere near the heights I can reach, but I’m still here and I think the extended format is a little more favourable for me, so hopefully I can lift this title for a second time.”

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World Number 6 Luke Humphries reached his third televised Semi Final of the year in spectacular fashion, recovering from a 2-0 deficit to clinch a 3-2 victory over former 2 tme World Champion Peter Wright.

Joe Cullen completed the Semi Final lineup in the last match of the night and similarly to Cool Hand Luke, the Winmau player fought from behind to win.

The Rockstar came from 2-1 down to beat Masters Champion Chris Dobey 3-2 in Leicester, to reach his maiden World Grand Prix Semi Final where he will face World Number 6 Humphries.

Luke Humphries fell to an early 2-0 deficit in sets over Peter Wright in the third Semi Final, with Snakebite including a 100 checkout in the 3rd leg of the 2nd set.

Cool Hand Luke crucially broke in the fourth leg of the third set to reduce the arrears to 2-1, before hitting a 133 checkout in the 2nd leg of the fourth set in what was the highest finish of the match.

The 2 Time 2023 Pro Tour winner broke throw in the 5th and deciding leg to level the match at 2-2, and repeated the trick in the deciding set, after hitting double ten to secure his place in a maiden World Grand Prix Semi Final.

“That could be one of the greatest wins of my career, I can’t really put that into words. That was prime Peter – that was Peter Wright at his best. I put everything into that game, and I’m so proud of myself. That is a massive win for me.”

“I never make it easy for myself, but you don’t expect it to be easy. We have so many great players here, and I’m probably going to have to play as well as that in the semi-finals.”

Humphries will face another player making his first appearance in a World Grand Prix Last 4 match in Joe Cullen, with the Rockstar including an opening set checkout rate of 75% having hit 3 out of 4 at double to win the leg.

The Rockstar continues in his quest for a second televised crown having won the Masters last year, whilst also coming within a dart of winning the Premier League in Berlin in 2022.

The Englishman continues to threaten in the major tournaments having reached the Semi Finals of the Matchplay back in July and has repeated the trick this time at the World Grand Prix.

Joe found the bullseye to hit the highest checkout of the match, finishing 121 to secure his win over Chris Dobey who knocked out defending champion Michael van Gerwen on Thursday night.

“If I’m completely honest, if that 121 finish didn’t go in, I would have probably lost the game, I felt so focused, and I want to give myself the best possible chance. I think this [fightback] will stand me in good stead, and I will take that confidence into tomorrow.”

“Luke is a great lad. He dug in tonight and showed his fighting qualities, so I will have to perform tomorrow, but this double start [format] is a massive leveller.”

The Semi Finals of the 2023 Boylesports World Grand Prix start on Saturday with World Number 4 and former Grand Prix winner Gerwyn Price taking on reigning World Champion Michael Smith in the opening game, before Luke Humphries faces Joe Cullen.