Gerwyn Price made it through to the last eight of the
Grand Slam of Darts with a hard-fought victory over
Bradley Brooks.
The world champion made a very flat impression in the early stages against Brooks, the reigning world youth champion. The Welshman should have been 5-0 up going into the first break, but due to misses on the doubles Brooks kept the damage limited with 'only' a 3-2 deficit. After the break, Price made it 5-2, but that did not cause any extra emotion for the world number one.
The Iceman, however, failed to keep the momentum going and Brooks was able to come back to 6-4. Brooks' believe in causing a shock grew when Brooks took a 7-6 lead after the second break.
Price levelled the score with a 120 finish, which stirred up some emotions for the former rugby player. In the fifteenth leg Brooks threw in a 177, followed by celebrating his huge score. The 21-year-old then missed three darts on double 14 and was broken by Price, who had not forgotten Brooks' scream and gave his opponent a taste of his own medicine.
Price did not give away the break and the reigning world champion threw a 14-darter in the 18th leg for a place in the quarter-finals.