Shivered briefly, then world champion: Famoser Price avoids darts drama and cheers

Shivered briefly, then world champion
Famoser Price avoids darts drama and cheers

Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson produced a scandal together two years ago, and both darts professionals have heartily dislike each other. The victory has to taste all the sweeter for Price: The Welshman wins clearly and is the new world champion. To do this, he has to shake unnecessarily long.

After eleven missed chances, the nervous Gerwyn Price got very close to the 25 kilogram World Cup trophy – then he used the twelfth chance for the greatest possible triumph. The former rugby bully from Wales has crowned his sport change in London and is darts world champion. The 35-year-old Welshman won the final in London against Gary Anderson from Scotland 7-3 and thus also won prize money of 500,000 pounds (around 559,000 euros).

"I've never felt so much pressure in my life," said the winner, relieved. For Price, winning the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy is by far the greatest success of his career. Anderson missed his third world title after 2015 and 2016. "I've never been in a situation like this. It was tough," said Price in a first reaction about his eleven missed match darts, which threatened to tip over the match again.

For Price, his greatest dream as a professional athlete came true. Confetti was raining in the deserted Alexandra Palace when the new champion kissed the trophy for the first time. In the ranking, the polarizing muscleman Price replaces the previous subscription leader Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman had topped the world rankings uninterruptedly since January 2014 and now has to surrender the top spot after losing in the quarter-finals. Price not only won the most important tournament in 2020, but also won the most titles overall.

At the World Cup, he survived several critical situations such as the 3-2 win against compatriot Jamie Lewis or the narrow victories against the two Northern Irish Brendan Dolan (4: 3) and Daryl Gurney (5: 4). On Sunday evening he played splendidly and left no doubts as to who will win the world title in 2021. "The Flying Scotsman" quickly fell behind in its fifth World Cup final. Price showed his best level right from the start and in the meantime hit 80 percent of his throws on the double fields. The Welshman took a 4-1 lead and kept pushing himself with loud cheers.

"I'll be quiet, he loud"

Seasoned Anderson played no worse than on the impressive way to the final, but had to admit defeat to an outstanding opponent. Price even played eight perfect darts and just missed the nine-darter by a hair's breadth. The clashes between Anderson and Price are often a bit heated. The always calm Scot and the extremely impulsive Welshman clashed once in autumn 2018 when Price cheered and provoked particularly loudly in the final of the Grand Slam – and then won his first major title at 16:13.

"Iceman" Price was then fined heavily and booed for months by the fans because his partly chubby behavior was not particularly well received. Anderson, on the other hand, was annoyed again at this World Cup and reprimanded his opponents if they took too much time throwing the arrows. Before the final, the Scot replied to the question of what kind of final he was expecting: "I'll be quiet, he loud."

What the darts year 2021 will look like is still completely unclear due to the corona. A calendar has not yet been published, many tournaments in winter and spring will continue to have to take place without spectators. Until the next World Cup in London a year from now, it will be difficult to push Price off the top of the rankings. On van Gerwen he has a cushion of over 270,000 pounds in the Order of Merit.

. (tagsToTranslate) Sport (t) Kurz (t) World Champion (t) Famoser (t) Price (t) Darts-Drama