Gerwyn Price completes ProTour treble at Players Championship 12
Gerwyn Price picked up his third ProTour title of the year at Players Championship 12 in Leicester on Wednesday with a thrilling 8-7 win over Josh Rock in the final.
Price withstood a blistering barrage from Rock to triumph in a pulsating final, defying an average of 110.7 from the Northern Irishman.
Rock hit back from 4-0 and 7-4 down to force a last-leg decider, but Price maintained his composure in the decider to prevail with a 14-darter.
“Josh played fantastic darts to come back, but luckily I got a big lead otherwise he would have blown me away,” said Price.
“I didn’t perform that well on the outside boards today, but I played really well on the streaming boards.
“I felt a little bit more comfortable and just seemed to zone in, and this will give me a boost going into the Premier League tomorrow.
“It doesn’t matter how well you’re playing, when you’re winning tournaments, it gives you great confidence going forward.”
Price produced a series of clinical displays to clinch the £15,000 top prize at the Mattioli Arena, boasting a tournament average of 100.6 across his seven matches.
The 40-year-old opened up with a ton-plus average in dispatching Darius Labanauskas, before winning through hard-fought encounters against Adam Lipscombe and Matthew Dennant.
Following a 6-4 win over Mario Vandenbogaerde in the Last 16, Price sealed his spot in the final with irresistible displays against Jonny Clayton and Ian White respectively.
The former World Champion averaged 112.2 to thrash his compatriot Clayton 6-1 in the quarter-finals, while a 110.8 average saw him sweep aside White 7-2 in a repeat of last week’s Players Championship 9 final.
Price raced the opening four legs against Rock, and though the 23-year-old won four of the next five legs to hit back, Price responded with back-to-back legs to regain control at 7-4.
Rock then reeled off three straight legs in 12, 11 and 12 darts to set up a grandstand finish, but Price held firm to become the first player to win a hat-trick of PDC ranking titles this season.
Despite missing out on a second Players Championship title of the campaign, Rock was outstanding throughout the afternoon’s play, achieving perfection in his third round win over Matt Campbell.
The former World Youth Champion came agonisingly close to repeating the feat against Price, missing double 12 for his second nine-darter of the day in the closing stages of Wednesday’s final.
Rock earlier averaged 108 in his quarter-final victory over Gary Anderson, while also accounting for Dutch duo Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen.
Van Veen maintained his superb start to the year by reaching his fourth ProTour semi-final of the campaign, having kicked off his title bid with back-to-back ton-plus averages.
White also continued his resurgence in Leicester, defeating James Wade, Daryl Gurney, Alan Soutar and Luke Woodhouse in his run to the semi-finals.
Woodhouse was joined in the quarter-finals by Ritchie Edhouse – who edged out World Champion Luke Littler in the last 16, as Clayton and Anderson completed the last eight line-up.
Michael van Gerwen suffered a second opening round exit in as many days as he went down 6-3 to Rhys Griffin, while Luke Humphries was beaten in a deciding leg by Belgian veteran Vandenbogaerde despite an average of 105.4.
Players Championship 12 Results
Wednesday April 9
First Round
Gabriel Clemens 6-4 James Hurrell
Alan Soutar 6-4 Nick Kenny
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Adam Paxton
Ian White 6-5 James Wade
Maximilian Czerwinski 6-4 Jitse Van der Wal
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Keane Barry
Connor Scutt 6-5 Scott Campbell
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Dom Taylor
Chris Landman 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ryan Searle 6-5 Darryl Pilgrim
Adam Hunt 6-4 Scott Williams
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Thomas Lovely
Haupai Puha 6-3 Nathan Rafferty
Tom Bissell 6-5 Damon Heta
Tommy Lishman 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-4 Stefan Bellmont
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Jeffrey De Graaf
Ross Smith 6-3 George Killington
Oskar Lukasiak 6-1 Danny Lauby
Michael Smith 6-2 Benjamin Reus
Stephen Burton 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Thibault Tricole
Kevin Doets 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Niels Zonneveld
Jim Long 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Luke Humphries 6-1 Cor Dekker
Christian Kist 6-5 Jim Williams
Raymond van Barneveld 6-2 Andy Boulton
Matthew Dennant 6-2 Adam Warner
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Darius Labanauskas
Adam Lipscombe 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Owen Bates 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Callan Rydz 6-2 William Borland
Luke Littler 6-2 Ted Evetts
Rob Owen 6-4 Robert Grundy
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Dylan Slevin
Joshua Richardson 6-4 Leon Weber
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Adam Mould
Ricky Evans 6-1 Carl Sneyd
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Jose De Sousa 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Rhys Griffin 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Viktor Tingstrom
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Dominik Gruellich 6-2 Patrick Geeraets
Gian van Veen 6-4 Cam Crabtree
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Lukas Wenig 6-5 Madars Razma
Matt Campbell 6-5 Stefaan Henderyck
Josh Rock 6-5 Radek Szaganski
Justin Hood 6-3 Berry van Peer
Peter Wright 6-5 Florian Hempel
Brett Claydon 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Danny Noppert 6-0 Kevin Burness
Jelle Klaasen 6-5 Ryan Meikle
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Graham Usher
Niko Springer 6-2 Chris Dobey
Steve Lennon 6-3 Richard Veenstra
Joe Cullen 6-5 Tom Sykes
Brendan Dolan 6-5 Darren Beveridge
Gary Anderson 6-1 Max Hopp
William O’Connor 6-1 Andy Baetens
Second Round
Alan Soutar 6-3 Gabriel Clemens
Wesley Plaisier 6-3 Mickey Mansell
Ian White 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Connor Scutt
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Chris Landman
Ryan Searle 6-4 Adam Hunt
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Haupai Puha
Tommy Lishman 6-3 Tom Bissell
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Ross Smith 6-4 Oskar Lukasiak
Michael Smith 6-3 Stephen Burton
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Kevin Doets
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-3 Jim Long
Luke Humphries 6-3 Christian Kist
Matthew Dennant 6-4 Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Owen Bates 6-5 Callan Rydz
Luke Littler 6-0 Rob Owen
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Joshua Richardson
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Ricky Evans
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Martin Lukeman 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Dominik Gruellich 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Gian van Veen 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Matt Campbell 6-5 Lukas Wenig
Josh Rock 6-2 Justin Hood
Peter Wright 6-0 Brett Claydon
Danny Noppert 6-3 Jelle Klaasen
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Niko Springer 6-2 Steve Lennon
Brendan Dolan 6-1 Joe Cullen
Gary Anderson 6-5 William O’Connor
Last 32
Alan Soutar 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Ian White 6-2 Daryl Gurney
Ryan Searle 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Tommy Lishman
Ross Smith 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Michael Smith
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-5 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Matthew Dennant
Luke Littler 6-3 Owen Bates
Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Martin Lukeman 6-3 Jose De Sousa
Gian van Veen 6-4 Dominik Gruellich
Josh Rock 6-4 Matt Campbell
Danny Noppert 6-5 Peter Wright
Karel Sedlacek 6-3 Niko Springer
Gary Anderson 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Last 16
Ian White 6-5 Alan Soutar
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Ryan Searle
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Ross Smith
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Luke Littler
Gian van Veen 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Josh Rock 6-3 Danny Noppert
Gary Anderson 6-4 Karel Sedlacek
Quarter-Finals
Ian White 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Jonny Clayton
Gian van Veen 6-4 Ritchie Edhouse
Josh Rock 6-3 Gary Anderson
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price 7-2 Ian White
Josh Rock 7-4 Gian van Veen
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-7 Josh Rock
