Gerwyn Price seems to have found his mojo again after a difficult period. Just by missing tournaments, 'The Iceman' has realized that he is far from done with darts.
In recent weeks, therefore, Price seems to be returning more and more to his old form. He made the quarterfinals at the World Darts Championship, and reached the final of the Bahrain Darts Masters. The highlight of that tournament was his victory over Luke Littler, a match in which Price posted a 115.31 average.
Last November, Price missed out on participation in the Grand Slam of Darts, the tournament where the Welshman has been most successful in the past with three titles. That proved to be the tipping point, he said in an interview with Reach.
“Having a couple of weeks off, missing the Grand Slam and going out early in the Players Championship…I get bored really easily and I didn’t really have anything to do.
“It put things into perspective for me. If I’m not playing darts, then I have nothing else to do. I missed it. I love playing in the Grand Slam and I’ve won it a few times. It was difficult missing that one. It gave me a reset and made me look forward to playing again.
“I just want to enjoy darts again. I think I played a little bit too much and got down on myself. But missing those couple of weeks gave me a spark back, and that’s all I needed, I think.”
The quarterfinal spot at the World Darts Championship was really the only highlight in an otherwise weak year for Price. Nevertheless, to his own surprise, Price received an invitation to the upcoming Premier League Darts. “I didn’t know. I knew an hour before it came on Sky. This year, I had a message come through from [PDC chief executive] Matt Porter, which I thought was going to be a message saying I wasn’t in. But it said, ‘congratulations’ and that I was in, so I was happy.”
Perhaps his performance at the PDC World Darts Championship won over the PDC to invite Price after all. 'The Iceman,' however, in his own opinion, could have gone a lot further at Alexandra Palace.
I was playing really well in every game but then slipped off and let people come back at me and started missing doubles. I gifted a win to Chris Dobey. I let Joe Cullen back in, let Jonny Clayton back in.
“If I could have been a little more ruthless and kept my foot on the gas, I probably would have got to the final, and I think I could have won it.”
Following today's Preliminary Rounds, the draw bracket for the Winmau World Masters is now locked in 🔒#WWMasters pic.twitter.com/Ni2HYVyJsM
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 29, 2025