Gerwyn Price survived against Danny Noppert at the
Grand Slam of Darts with 'The Iceman' producing a stunning 164 checkout en route to a 10-8 win which he admits saw luck on his side again.
"I think I had a bit of lady luck on my side there. I mean Danny played way better than I did all the way through that game but I was hanging on in there and when I had a chance at 164, I think obviously that won me the game but I was hanging on to Danny's coattails," said Price post match.
"I was average, I was below average I thought but I need to stop beating myself up in games and thinking that I'm playing way worse than I am. At 6-4 down I was thinking one break and I'm back in the game and then he broke me and I'm thinking yeah it's going to be a tough night at the office but I dug deep and I started throwing a little bit quicker. Stopped thinking as much and things started to go in for me."
"I've learned that until someone hits the last double, you're always in the game you know. If they can win five, six, seven legs on the bounce why can't I. You just need to think that as long as you're still in the game, there's no reason why you can't turn the game around."
Next up is Raymond van Barneveld in a repeat of his group stage loss and Price dubbed it the battle of 'nine lives' with both coming through close clashes throughout.
"I need to play a little better than I did today. It might show 100 average but I don't think I was on the game today. I need to be way better than I was on Friday night."
"Me and Raymond have probably used all our nine lives so it's probably one of the best games they could've got."
As a player who himself has received hate mainly spawning around the 2018 edition of this tournament against Gary Anderson, Price knows it better than most and after a recent piece which saw Fallon Sherrock spotlight hate she has received, Price said he has sympathy for her but it's the sport they're in.
"She's probably had as much if not more than what I've had so maybe she should give me some advice but it's a tough world out there. You're out there to earn a living and to do a job but there's always critics no matter how good you are. But yeah I do feel bad for the way people treat her but it's life and you've just got to deal with."