On the very day the late, great Beatles guitarist George Harrison first drew breath, Gerwyn Price was conducting a symphony of his own inside the Mattioli Arena – each dart a perfectly timed chord, each checkout a crescendo.
And if that orchestral dominance were not enough, Doncaster prodigy Beau Greaves was simultaneously striking a note so pure it will echo through PDC folklore: a history making perfect leg.
Stung by an abrupt departure the previous afternoon, The Iceman returned with glacial focus and volcanic scoring power, producing a sequence of breath-taking displays to surge to a formidable career tally of 22 Players Championship titles.
The last time Price radiated such imperious authority within a single event, he was denied in the final by Wessel Nijman. This time, there would be no such derailment. Instead, he dismantled the ever-resilient Andrew Gilding, who, remarkably, after fourteen industrious years on the Pro Tour, still awaits his maiden floor triumph.
For Gezzy, the statistics border on the absurd: seven matches, seven victories, five of them accompanied by averages north of a ton – and not meekly hovering there but soaring emphatically beyond. The former World Champion telegraphed his intentions from the outset, conceding a solitary leg to Cristo Reyes before accelerating through the gears.
Maik Kuivenhoven, Lukas Wenig and Scott Waites were dispatched with ruthless efficiency. Only Wenig escaped comparatively unscathed, while the other two were overwhelmed by scoring barrages flirting with the 110 mark. It was not merely winning; it was domination rendered in tungsten.
The latter stages, however, demanded sterner resolve. Kevin Doets can take immense pride from a ton plus quarter final performance, yet still found himself edged aside 6-4. Then to stamp his spot in the showpiece, Price confronted a more personal subplot, avenging a recent Premier League defeat in Glasgow at the hands of compatriot and friend Jonny Clayton.
The 7-4 scoreline scarcely conveys the ferocity or quality of that encounter. Both matches were played at a rarefied standard. Unfortunately for Gilding, the final was a far less combustible affair.
Goldfinger, eternally affable and seldom rattled, likely exited Leicester with quiet contentment. Since joining the PDC Pro Tour in 2012, Gilding’s admirable consistency has yielded only three Players Championship final appearances prior to this one – though, of course, his glittering UK Open triumph ensures his legacy is anything but modest.
The Norfolk stalwart’s journey to the afternoon crescendo was hardly straightforward. He negotiated stern examinations against Scott Williams, Leon Weber and Martin Dragt before overcoming Kim Huybrechts. In the quarter finals, he edged Tuesday’s champion Ross Smith in a nerve shredding last leg decider that could have pivoted either way.
Earlier still, Thibault Tricole found himself navigating gloriously uncharted waters in reaching the semi-final, only to be denied in a sudden death shootout that secured Gilding his appointment with Price.Much like the previous afternoon, when viewers tuned into PDC.TV anticipating a titanic duel between Ross Smith and Chris Dobey, this final also failed to provide much drama.
Price was simply too authoritative, too precise, too relentless. The decorated Welshman departs Leicester with, yet another title annexed to his burgeoning collection, perhaps wishing he could distil this blistering form into a portable elixir – something to be applied liberally before every event. Alas, darts does not indulge such conveniences.
And finally, enormous congratulations must be extended to Beau Greaves, who, much like Luke Littler, appears to treat historical darting milestones as minor administrative inconveniences. What the Yorkshire phenomenon has accomplished thus far borders on the extraordinary, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before she etched her name into another chapter of the sport’s annals.
Today in Leicester, Greaves became the first woman to register a nine-dart finish on the Pro Tour. The immaculate leg materialised during her second-round victory over Mensur Suljović, who, in admirable sporting spirit, could do little more than bow in appreciation of the alchemy he had just witnessed.
The greatest compliment one can bestow upon Greaves is this: nobody was shocked. We were merely waiting. It was never a question of if – only when.Leicester provided the answer.
2026 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP SIX
Mattioli Arena, Leicester, UK (Wed 25th Feb)
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Kevin Doets
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Christian Kist
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Ross Smith
Thibault Tricole 6-3 David Sharp
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price 7-4 Jonny Clayton
Andrew Gilding 7-6 Thibault Tricole
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-1 Andrew Gilding
——Ends——-
Images: PDC
