Gerwyn Price made a solid if unspectacular start to the 2024 US Darts Masters last night. Despite passing up 18 missed darts at double, the Welshman was still more than good enough to see off Jules van Dongen 6-3 in New York.
"I thought the crowd were brilliant," Price reflects afterwards in conversation with Online Darts, despite the fact the majority of those in attendance at Madison Square Garden had hoped for van Dongen to get one over on Price. "Majority of them was with him, but I thought I played particularly well early on to keep him quiet. But a couple missed doubles let him back in the game and he started giving it large and I thought 'oh no, I need to start hitting my doubles!' But yeah, I enjoyed it."
Despite the profligacy on the outer ring, overall Price is content with the level he's shown of late and the former world champion is looking to get back to tournament winning ways. "I know my scoring game is there and if I hit my doubles then I play a lot better. I'd probably win that game 6-1 or 6-2," says the Iceman. "I looked at it, somebody put the stats out and I think it was 42/43% on my doubles. I was like no someone's got wrong but I think it's just key doubles and key stages of games where I'm missing, then they're taking out big shots."
In the next round in New York, Price will go up against Peter Wright. The pair finished bottom (Wright ed.) and second bottom (Price ed.) of the recent Premier League Darts season. "I haven't won a trophy for a while and it's good to get back in the winning circle. So if I was to win, it would give me a good boost of confidence going into the big majors at the back end of the year. I'm looking forward to the back end of the season and usually that's when I play my best stuff," Price concludes.