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Welshman Gerwyn Price won his first PDC World Championship with a magnificent 7-3 victory over two-time champion Gary Anderson at Alexandra Palace.
Price missed 11 darts matches before clinching the title for the 12th time hitting with a double five.
The former professional rugby player only started competing on the PDC Tour in 2014 after earning a spot in qualifying school.
“I have never felt pressure like this in my life,” said the 35-year-old.
“I think it will take me a couple of days to sink in. Now I’m walking on a cloud, it means the world.”
His defeated opponent said, “Tonight I just couldn’t get the darts up to that triple twenty. My doubles were atrocious and that’s what happens when you do that – you get hit.”
Price’s victory also secures his place as world number one, ending the seven-year reign of Dutchman Michael van Gerwen.
The ‘Iceman’ becomes the first qualifying school player to become world champion and world number one, as well as the first Welshman to win the PDC world title.
It was the first time the pair had met in a major final since possibly the most controversial final in darts history at the 2018 Grand Slam, when Price won his first televised title.
Anderson, 50, started confidently but missed three darts to clinch the first set and Price took advantage of the Scotsman’s mistake, winning three stages in a row to lead him.
In the second set Anderson, in his fifth World Championship final, returned to his best, throwing a 180 followed by a brilliant 128 checkout in the second leg. He broke Price’s shot with a 78 checkout and took three legs on the spin to level by one set each.
A focused Price shot out in the third set and smashed Anderson with a 12-dart. Even an impressive 170 finish from the ‘Flying Scotsman’ to sustain the pitch failed to bring Price down as he took a 2-1 lead.
Price, who won eight PDC titles in 2020, was eight of eight for his favorite double top, and an incredible 77% doubles percentage helped him take the fourth set and settle into a lead that never seemed to give up.
He opened the fifth set with a break shot and hit double 20 for the 10th time in 10 attempts while extending his lead to 4-1. His opponent also couldn’t find any answers in the sixth set when Price opened with 11 darts, pulling out double 20 once again, followed by the bullseye to go through 161 and break Anderson.
Price narrowly missed a double 12 for nine darts in the third leg, but nailed it on his 10th dart to take the sixth set with a staggering 136.6 average, the highest in championship history.
An experienced Anderson kept his hopes alive in the seventh to cut the delays to 5-2, but Price pitched his final 14th double-20 in the deciding match of the eighth to restore his four-set lead.
A tense Price missed 10 match darts in the third leg of the ninth and Anderson took advantage of the mistakes to clinch the set and in the tenth the now clearly shaken Welshman was broken by Anderson before keeping his nerves to force a decisive.
Anderson, seeking his third crown in seven years, missed a fantastic opportunity to make a 134 checkout to keep the game alive and Price blew two more darts only for Anderson to miss three more darts.
Price paused for a long time to recover and eventually hit double of five to become world champion and collect the winners’ check of £ 500,000.
The smiling Welshman later said: “When you have a chance to win and you have three darts in your hand to take it out and you think you’re going to take it, I’ve never been in that situation to win the World Championship and that was tough.”
A kind Anderson said: “You get beaten in the final, yes it’s disappointing, but getting to the final first was a pat on the back for me.
“What I’ve done the last few weeks has been an advantage for me, so it’s good to do it again.”
2021 Premier League of Darts
Following the final, nine names were confirmed for the 2021 Premier League, after it was previously announced that the ‘Challengers’ format will not return for the third consecutive season.
The list of players is:
- Michael van Gerwen
- Peter wright
- Gerwyn Price
- Rob Cross
- Gary Anderson
- Glen durrant
- Nathan Aspinall
- Dimitri van den Bergh
- Jose de Sousa
The last name will be confirmed after the Masters in late January. The league was supposed to start in February, but now it won’t start until Easter at the earliest.
