"I hate this event; I hate the set format, and I hate the double-in": Gerwyn Price thrives at World Grand Prix despite disdain for format

Gerwyn Price sealed a statement win as he took out Sebastian Bialecki,rci the debutant, in a 2-0 win with an average of over 101 and taking out 120 twice to movep into the second round against Ross Smith at the World Grand Prix.

Price gets another crack at Smith and calls out his lack of preparation at the World Series of Darts Finals, not right, as he was thrust back onto the stage while Smudger had time to kill and then managed to seal the win.

"No, but I've got a little bit more time on my hands now between games. The final last week is probably a little bit of a p***take. You get 10 minutes in between the game, and it's not right. Especially when the other players had a good hour to prepare. I was probably a little bit burned out in that final. So I will be 10 times better on Wednesday," he said.

But Price takes confidence from that run, albeit in a format that he admits he doesn't like. "As long as I'm winning, whether I'm playing well or not, the most important thing is to win."

"But to play well on the back of it as well, I'm happy. I'm glad I played with those new darts last week because I was a bit apprehensive and didn't know what to do. I played really well with them. The more I use them, the better I'll get."

He has changed his equipment though recently and said that it has helped, but that everything is kind of a minor switch. "To be honest, I haven't changed much. Obviously, the new switch points, and obviously, it's a bit different at the front of the barrel. The barrel is pretty much similar to the back end of the dart, but just a longer point. Yeah, it helps me score a lot better. As you see, the doubles are going in as well."

Playing Bialecki, who is on debut, can mean either an easier ride or a tough one, not knowing what kind of player they are going to get, but he managed to claim confidence boosts to begin, which furthered his game.

"Not really, because I didn't know how well he was going to play or how bad he was going to play. I thought he started off slow, but definitely at the back end of the legs there, he was still pushing me."

"I started with a 160. I think I was on a shot out, and he was able to start with a double. It's nice to play someone you know how well they're going to play, but it was good for him to have a slow start for me to get out of the blocks and give me a bit of confidence."

He said that ultimately he doesn't care too much when he loses in terms of beating himself up, and previously he perhaps would've given himself some stick for being defeated, but now he doesn't dwell on it. "Every word I said I meant. I'm here to win, but if I don't win, it's not a be-all and end-all. I've got other things going on. If I win tournaments, happy days. If I lose, then I'll just move on to the next one. I'm here to win, and I give 110%. If I lose, I'm absolutely devastated, but it won't dwell on me too long, I don't think, anymore."

But while he doesn't care as much, it is more that he can't win everything and doesn't expect to and that he knows that while he is playing well, something will come. "I'm on the road 90% of the time, so it is my life. I'll give 110% to it. Years ago, I probably beat myself up too much for too long, but I just park it now. You can't win every single event, and as long as I'm playing well, something will happen, something will come. I'm playing well in this one, so there's no reason why I can't win this one as well.

Playing well in the World Grand Prix, Price, though, admits he hates the tournament and the format, so he doesn't know why he enjoys good form in it. "I hate this event; I hate the set format, and I hate the double-in, but then I seem to play well. I just seem to probably put a bit more effort into leading up to it, which I have now this year. I probably started practicing a month before with the double in and double out. I just seem to probably concentrate and zone in a little more on this event because I don't like it. I seem to do pretty well."

He went on holiday last week, but he admitted that he perhaps practiced more than he does at home, so it leaned itself to a good balance. "Yes, obviously going away, for I think it was four or five days. But I took the travel board with me. I probably practised more being away than I would have been home because I've got a lot of distractions with the farm, trying to sort stuff out there and finish off a few properties. So, yes, it's probably better to get away, take a board, and be able to get on the practice board a bit more rather than being at home. I probably wouldn't have picked the dart up and gone away, I suspect."