Gerwyn Price has claimed overall victory at the 2024 Australian Darts Masters after an 8-1 victory over Luke Littler in the final in Wollongong.
En route to the final, Littler had seen off local qualifier Rob Modra in the opening round, before defeating Michael Smith and Dimitri van den Bergh in thrilling quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. Price meanwhile, overcame Brenton Lloyd in the first round before successively defeating Damon Heta and Peter Wright for a place in the final.
Although through the tournament, Littler had been the one posting the higher averages of the pair, it was Price who started the final by far the better of the two. A 15-dart hold in leg 1 was followed by the first break of throw of the contest in leg 2. Another comfortable hold followed for Price and although Littler finally got his first dart at double in leg 4, he couldn't take it on double top and Price moved 4-0 up.
Both players had chances in leg 5 but again it was the Welshman who was the man to nail the double first as he sailed into a 5-0 advantage. Littler finally got himself on the board with a brilliant 12 dart hold in leg 6, but there was much work to be done for the teenage sensation as the players headed off for the break.
Back on stage and Price immediately wrestled the momentum back, holding throw in 18 darts. After Littler then missed two darts at double in the following leg, the Iceman punished again to move just one away from the title. With Littler then missing tow more on the outer ring to keep the tie alive, Price pinned double 10 for the comprehensive 8-1 win.
The prize pool for this event contains a total of £60,000. However, the prize money won prize money does not count toward the PDC Order of Merit or other money rankings.
All participants are guaranteed £1,250 in prize money. This amount could eventually rise to a sum of £20,000 in prize money for the winner.