Gerwyn Price might be called The Iceman, but there was nothing cold about the way he melted down Gian van Veen in Hildesheim.
A few days earlier, Van Veen had humiliated him 6-0 in Prague. Cue Price deciding that revenge wasn’t just on the menu – it was the starter, main course, and dessert.
The Welshman blasted into a 6-0 lead before eventually closing out an 8-5 win, collecting his fourth Players Championship title of the season.
For six legs, Price looked like he’d hacked into Van Veen’s controller and pressed the pause button. Then, out of nowhere, Gian woke up, rattled off five legs in a row, and suddenly this rout looked like it might turn into a crime scene. But Price clearly wasn’t in the mood to feature in an end of season pub quiz question, so he did what champions do: reeled off an 11-darter, killed the match a few minutes later, and left us all marvelling at his 109.8 average and 13 maximums. Standard day at the office.
Now, a quick word on Hildesheim itself. For UK-based Tour Card holders, even hearing the name prompts groans usually reserved for tax bills and dental check-ups. The place might be pleasant enough, but getting there? Forget it.
NASA can plan trips to Saturn with less hassle. Players regularly arrive with delayed flights, cancelled flights, or – most often – no luggage. Enter Adam Hunt, who had to sprint through Amsterdam airport like Jason Bourne on Wish, only to discover his bag had decided to take a holiday of its own. He did the sensible thing: filled in the KLM lost luggage form. Unfortunately, KLM didn’t recognise the reference number. Translation: Your bag no longer exists.”
Michael Smith wasn’t spared either. He summed it up in typical understated style on social media: mine’s cancelled ffs. Not Shakespeare, but it gets the point across. Even referee Kirk Bevins joined the fun, posting that his bag never made the connection either. His bag eventually turned up though which was zero consolation to Adam Hunt upon reading the replies to his frustrated Facebook post.
Chris Dobey, meanwhile, dodged disaster this time. Not through skill, but because he didn’t travel. Probably the only way the Geordie makes sure his bag stays with him – remain in Newcastle.
Anyway, enough of luggage-gate. I’ve already overshot my editor’s word count, but frankly, this was worth it. People think darts is all about the big paydays, the glamour, the walk-ons. The reality? It’s about trying to get from A to B without your underpants turning up in another country.
Price himself was nursing a hand last week that had swollen to the size of a suitcase, but he came into this event with real intent. He opened with a 6-2 demolition of Dom Taylor, averaging over 108. He admitted he was lucky to scrape past James Hurrell in a last-leg thriller (Hurrell missed match darts), but once that scare passed, the momentum built. Brendan Dolan? Dealt with. Andy Baetens? Same. Wessel Nijman and William O’Connor both made him work, but Price kept surviving, kept pushing, and by the time he reached the final, you just felt it was his day.
That 6-0 start against Van Veen only confirmed it. Gian’s comeback added drama, but experience told in the end, and Price’s 21st Players Championship title was signed, sealed, and delivered.
While Price rightly grabs the headlines, Van Veen deserves his plaudits too and was also bang on it. It was the right two in the final after the 23-year old has superbly negotiated his way past Gary Anderson in the semi with a splendid 104.62 display. In the end, the Price mountain he left himself to climb was just too steep – even for him.
GVV is arguably the most in-form Dutchman right now – yes, even with Michael van Gerwen still around. Bold statement? Maybe. Wrong? Absolutely not. Plenty already see him as a future world champion, and based on his current form, you’d struggle to argue against it.
Elsewhere, Bradley Brooks has really bounced back with a bang. Having regained his Tour Card, Bam Bam has already picked up a Players Championship title this year. Today, he added a huge scalp, beating World No. 1 Luke Humphries with a monster 112 average. Not bad for a player many had written off a year ago.
And what of the World Grand Prix race? Results didn’t rip the rankings apart, but there were important shifts. Willie O’Connor’s semi-final run pushed him into a provisional spot for Leicester.
Michael Smith, however, crashed early and now sits £6k shy of the cut-off. He’ll be sweating buckets over the final Players Championship and the last two Euro Tours. Déjà vu for Bully Boy, who agonisingly missed Blackpool this summer.
As it stands, Barney and Cullen still have work to do, while Brendan Dolan’s chances look slimmer than ever. Dimitri Van den Bergh? Let’s just say if he qualifies, it’ll be one for the miracle files.
So, plenty of permutations left, plenty of nerves still to come, but this day was about Gerwyn Price and a bit of light shined on Van Veen too. He wanted revenge, and he got it, wrapped neatly with tungsten and delivered with icy precision.
That’s 21 Players Championship titles now for Price. To put that into context: that’s 21 more than any other chip shop owner in Wales has racked up. And if that’s not a stat worth remembering, I don’t know what is.
Quarter-Finals
Gary Anderson 6-5 Danny Noppert
Gian van Veen 6-3 Ross Smith
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Wessel Nijman
William O’Connor 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Semi-Finals
Gian van Veen 7-4 Gary Anderson
Gerwyn Price 7-6 Wiliam O’Connor
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-5 Gian van Veen
—–Ends—–
Images: PDC
