Day Three report of PDC Winter Series: Price bounces back to win another Pro Tour title

The PDC Winter Series continued on Thursday. It was the third day of a five day series which is taking place in the Ricoh Arena, Coventry from November 10-14. 128 players, seeded and non-seeded, will take part in the series every day until Saturday, with a knockout format, seeing one player crowned winner each day.

Shocks and upsets are very much on the cards on the Pro Tour. The first two days have given us a reminder that sometimes, the quality of some of the world’s best, prevails, as ‘Bully Boy’ Michael Smith bagged a tidy ten grand on the opening day and repeated this feat on day two with another final win.

Day three pins the question- Can anyone stop Michael Smith? With plenty of underdog stories already taking place in the Winter Series so far, you’d hope it could be one of the non-seeded players to do so. A new day presents the seeded players with another chance to knock ‘Bully Boy’ off his pedestal whilst for others, a chance to take chances and make a name for themselves to aim for the Order of Merit to put them in with a chance of qualification to the Grand Slam which commences on Monday 16th November.

Wright and Smith through opening ties whilst Cross, De Sousa and Clemens dumped out.

The opening ties for the seeded players at Players Championship 21 were completed with big names such as Peter Wright, Michael Smith and James Wade successfully through to the last 64.

‘Snakebite’ Peter Wright eased past Ron Meulenkamp in a 6-0 win with a 92 average after yesterday's disappointment which saw the World Champion out despite one of the highest averages of the day against Kai Fan Leung.

While for Smith who is aiming for a hat-trick of titles, it was a 6-1 win over Harald Leitinger for 'Bully Boy', who for a third successive day, is looking like the man to beat. For Wade, it was a 6-2 success against Simon Stevenson.

Some big names and in-form players have headed out though including Rob Cross who fell to Scottish youngster, William Borland 6-4. Gabriel Clemens has impressed throughout the Winter Series so far, especially yesterday with some jaw-dropping averages all day but Ryan Murray, another Scot eased past him 6-2.

It wasn’t to be for day two finalist Jose de Sousa who despite looking to go one better than the final on day three he was beaten by Ted Evetts, losing 6-1. Martin Schindler has shown flashes of brilliance as of late and he was responsible for the first round dumping of South African, Devon Petersen, and winning 6-2 against ‘The African Warrior’.

Crashing out of the first round were also the likes of Adrian Lewis, Krzysztof Ratajski, day two semi-finalist Joe Cullen and Lisa Ashton.

While there were welcome wins for Glen Durrant, Nathan Aspinall and Ian White, all of whom have had lacklustre weeks so far. Dimitri Van den Bergh won through himself despite having a nine-dart finish hit against him by Nick Kenny as he claimed it 6-3.

Big names flooded through to the last 32, as Price, Smith and Durrant find no trouble with their second round ties and Whitlock produces stunning display to see of Peter Wright.

Gerwyn Price found his feet in his bye to the second round, unlike on day two when he crashed out. It was narrow though, as he just about won his tie against Reece Robinson, 6-5.

As did Brendan Dolan against Jelle Klaasen. 'The History Maker' has been excellent all week in Coventry and smashed in a 104 average to defeat 'The Cobra' 6-1. Could it be another good day for the Northern Irishman?

Back-to-back title winner, Michael Smith eased through his second roung tie against Wayne Jones. Since winning two titles this week, ‘Bully Boy’ has suffered 10 final defeats in the last two years, he made no room for error against Jones, winning 6-1.

Premier League champion, Glen Durrant, is looking to make amends for his poor week at the Winter Series so far, not passing further than the second round. However, Duzza is certainly looking keen on bouncing back, as he made sure against Scott Mitchell, winning 6-5 to send him through.

Also wins for Simon Whitlock over Peter Wright, as he battered ‘Snakebite’ 6-1. Nathan Aspinall and Ian White progressed the furthest personally so far this week with wins over David Evans and Robert Thornton respectively.

There were exits for Daryl Gurney, Danny Noppert, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Jermaine Wattimena and James Wade in the second round on day three.

The Last 16 line-up was confirmed PDC Winter Series with Michael Smith not set to make it a hat trick of wins. A 6-4 defeat to a familiar adversary in Ross Smith ended the hopes of the St Helens ace who was victorious to win successive titles so far this week.

Gerwyn Price could be the latest winner with 'The Iceman' now looking to be one of the favourites to take the title after easing past Gavin Carlin 6-1. He will now face Jeff Smith who produced one of the performances of the round averaging 104 to see off Ryan Murray 6-2 who himself averaged 102.

Nathan Aspinall is looking his old self again after a barren spell so far this week. Asp also went through after defeating Ryan Joyce 6-2 while similarly there was a 6-4 win for ProTour stalwart, Ian White over Ritchie Edhouse.

There was also impressive displays for Madars Razma and Krzysztof Kciuk who both could add a first PDC ranking title today.

Premier League champion, Glen Durrant, bowed out at the hands of Ryan Searle, who is proving a really bogey opponent for Duzza, having won four of the last four meetings between the pair.

Brendan Dolan crashed out as he couldn’t see off Callan Rydz, losing 6-2. On the other hand, flying Aussie, Simon Whitlock kept producing his solid style of darts and made his way into the last 16 for the first time in the Winter Series with a 6-3 win over Jim Williams.

Gerwyn Price was the first player through to the Quarter-Finals on Day Three of the PDC Winter Series after seeing off Jeff Smith in a 6-0 whitewash win. Price this week will likely always start from the second round due to Gary Anderson withdrawing leaving the field short and he seems to have got into his rhythm averaging 99 in victory.

Ian White continued his impressive run on day three as he saw off Vincent van der Voort, winning 6-3. ‘The Diamond’ has seemingly rediscovered his glistening form displayed at the European Championships, two weeks ago and goes through to his first quarter-final since the Summer Series day four, where he reached the semis.

Whitlock fell narrowly against Callan Rydz in a 6-5 loss to put some more fight into the Australian for the final day on Friday. Whilst, Nathan Aspinall saw his day three ending as the expense of Krzysztof Kciuk and champion beater Ross Smith fell against Damon Heta, who had another superb day at the oche.

Gerwyn Price surged through to the semi-finals for the first time this week, beating Stephen Bunting 6-4. The game was at one stage tied at 3 legs a piece but ‘The Iceman’ put on a classy display to soak up the pressure from Bunting and come out on top. If you’re Price at the moment, you’d probably be feeling quite disappointed that this is your first quarter-final of the week after three attempts this week. It seems he’s recovering from World Cup celebration with Wales and is back to his a-game, looking an assured favourite to go and win day three from this position.

Price will next take on William O'Connor with 'The Magpie' due to the timings of the games, the first through with a 6-3 win over Ryan Searle.

But the main story comes from the other half of the draw with Callan Rydz through to his first PDC semi-final. The Bedlington ace went 5-0 up on Ian White and despite 'Diamond' threatening a late comeback, he kept his cool and won through 6-2 with a 102 average.

Awaiting him is Damon Heta, a winner on the PDC ProTour in his debut year, he will aim to make it a double after a 6-2 win over the surprise package of Krzysztof Kciuk who has put on some excellent performances this week.

Price advanced through to the final on day three with a comfortable win over Irishman, William O’Connor. ‘The Iceman’ convincingly won 7-3 and moved into another ProTour final.

Price’s opponent was confirmed as Damon Heta, when ‘The Heat’ managed to see off the remaining Englishman in the series on day three, Callan Rydz, beating him 7-5 in a feisty affair. Will Heta be able to take down the giant that is Gerwyn Price or will Price manage to continue his wonderful form at the oche this year by adding another ProTour title to his name?

Calm, composed, superb…. I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone who has watched Gerwyn Price perform at his best over the last 12 months when I say there’s not many superlatives left to describe the way this man throws the dart. Price prevails in the final on day three at the Winter Series against Damon Heta, winning 8-6 against the Australian.

‘The Iceman’ is seen as one of the best in world darts at pinning double top, but having chiselling down a 60, to a nerve-racking 10, he made his final three darts count with 5,1 and double 2 for the match. Living up to his name, he showed again how cool he remains when the pressure is on, as at one stage in the game, the pair were tied at 4-4 and then 6-6 shortly after. Heta threw some fantastic darts and managed to take Price on for the majority of the game. Heta, has been in and around the business end of the Winter Series throughout the week and will be delighted to get a final under his belt, you just feel that if it was anyone else, the Australian may have come out on top.