There was a sense of inevitability about Gerwyn Price’s victory on night three of the Premier League Darts in Dublin.
The Welshman waltzed his way past reigning world champion Luke Littler in his opening match of the night, before demolishing current world No.1 Luke Humphries in the semi-final and eventually taking the title without much hassle against Nathan Aspinall in the night’s finale.
He went about his business with the feel of a man on a mission.
Hitting 180s with ease, finding the outer ring without much trouble and proving an all-round menace to his opponents at the oche – there was a swagger about Price’s performance in the Irish capital.
But above everything else, the most striking part was just how much he appeared to be enjoying his darts.
It’s something he spoke about during one of the mid-match intervals on Thursday night, telling Sky Sports he wants to get back to being the ‘one to beat’ in darts.
He said: “I want to be a tough nut to crack for everyone! That’s what I used to be two or three years ago, I slipped off the radar a bit but I’m coming back.”
It hasn’t been the easiest of 18 months for the former world champion. He failed to win a single night at last year’s Premier League and his inclusion in this year’s edition was much-maligned at the time.
In truth, heading into the World Championship few people were looking at the Cardiff-born arrowsmith for their Premier League picks. He was yesterday’s man.
Price had reached the fourth round of a darts major just once throughout 2024 and his performances in the big television events leading up to the Worlds had been some of his worst since breaking onto the professional scene.
Second-round defeats at both the Matchplay and Grand Prix and a first-round exit in the European Championship were all compounded by Price’s failure to qualify for the Grand Slam in the autumn.
In the final big tournament before heading to Alexandra Palace, the Players Championship Finals, he lost in the first round to lowly-ranked Frenchman Thibault Tricole. The crisis button was activated.
Price needed to deliver at the World Championship and deliver he did. While a run to the quarter-final was still some way short of his actual best, it marked a much-needed return to form for the 39-year-old.
A third-round epic against Joe Cullen and a dominative showing against countryman Johnny Clayton in the following round captivated audiences and provided a timely reminder that Price is still one of darts’ true showmen. The iceman had finally thawed out.
And so far in 2025, not only has Price talked the talk, but he’s been able to back it up with his performances too.
He reached the final of the Bahrain Masters back in January, lost to eventual champion Rob Cross at the Dutch Darts Masters and took his first ranking title of the year at the Players Championship 2 earlier this month.
Throw into the mix he has now won each of the previous five meetings against Litter across all competitions and it’s safe to say Price has his fear factor back.
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