“I might get to world number one” - Gerwyn Price backs new setup to unlock another level despite dominant Amsterdam win

Gerwyn Price cruised into the quarter-finals of the 2026 World Series of Darts Finals with a 10-5 victory over Jim Long on Saturday night, but the Welshman still came off stage frustrated by his own performance.

Price was in control for most of the contest in Amsterdam, pulling away after Long briefly cut the gap to 3-2 and eventually opening up an 8-2 advantage before closing out the match.

The result was emphatic enough. Price’s own assessment was rather less convincing. He is still trying to settle on a new setup and admitted afterwards that he had even considered changing midway through the match before deciding to stick with it.

“I’m still struggling a little bit, trying to get it right with the new points and the new setup,” Price said. “Yeah, I stuck with them. I was thinking about changing halfway through and I’m like, ‘No, just battle through, get through it.’ Because I practise brilliantly with them, and as soon as that game comes on stage, I believe I’ll be a lot better. I’ll win a lot more tournaments, but I just need to stick with them.”

With no ranking points on offer at the World Series Finals, Price sees Amsterdam as the ideal place to persevere with the changes. That does not mean he is treating the event lightly.

“Yeah, exactly,” Price said when asked whether the challenge was primarily mental. “And that’s why I’m a little bit up and down in this, but this is the tournament to do it. There are no ranking points. Yeah, I want to win. I’m here to win. But these are the tournaments to try out new things.”

Price clearly believes there is more to come if he can reproduce what he is seeing in practice. “And yeah, if I can play half as good as I practise with them, then I’ll be brilliant,” he said. “I might get to world number one. Not sure about that! Honestly, I practise really well with them, but it’s tough mentally trying to get up on the main stage.”

The 10-5 scoreline gave Price little reason to panic against Long. After Long broke back to make it 3-2, Price immediately re-established control and won five of the next six legs to move 8-3 ahead. Long managed to delay the inevitable, but Price never looked in serious danger of losing his grip on the match.

Even so, he was not satisfied with simply getting through. “Sometimes the better someone plays, the better I play,” Price said. “And I believe someone will play better in the next round against me and I will play a lot better. I’m just happy that he didn’t play that well and I won.”

Price was similarly clear that victory alone is not enough when he feels there is another level available. “The venue’s great. The crowd is great,” he said. “But yeah, I just want to play a lot better. I love winning, but I like playing well as well.”

Price has not been shy about what he wants from the new setup. He believes that if he can carry his practice form onto the stage, it can help him win more titles and put him back into the fight for world number one.

For now, the immediate priority is simply getting comfortable enough with the changes to trust them under pressure. “They’ll come,” Price said when asked whether the darts would eventually click.

That process continues in the quarter-finals, where James Wade now stands between Price and a place in the last four.

After getting through Long without ever really finding his best, Price heads into that match still searching for the stage version of the game he says is already there in practice.