The career of Gerwyn Price has seen a massive rise in the last seven years. Nicknamed ‘The Iceman’, he was regularly playing rugby union as a hooker for Welsh Premiership sides Neath and Cross Keys, before a stint at rugby league side South Wales Scorpions. Fast forward to 2021, and the Cardiff-born man is a PDC world darts champion, as well as being the No 1 ranked player on the Order of Merit.
In 2012, ‘Gezzy’ – as he is sometimes referred to – was scoring tries in Cross Keys’ Swalec Cup victory over Pontypridd at the Millennium Stadium and following this success had ambitions to play on the international stage for Wales. However, despite playing for every age group up until Under 21s injuries began to take their toll on Price and before long a decision had to be made.
While at Neath, Price began to play darts more regularly for his local side Markham Welfare. Having weighed up his options, Price made the difficult decision to call time on his rugby career in 2014 in the hope of making a profession as a darts player.
After impressing in the Super League for Aberbargoed, Price entered qualifying school following advice from fellow professional Barrie Bates. Price was successful in the second event, earning himself a two-year PDC tour card.
The Iceman’s first tournament was the 2014 UK Open and after narrowly getting through round one with a 5-4 victory over Nathan Derry, the Welshman exited the tournament in round two, going down 5-2 to Aden Kirk.
Following a successful year on the PDC Pro Tour, Price qualified for his first World Championship but would face a mammoth test in world No 5 Peter Wright. Price missed a massive dart at double 20 to level the game up and went on to be comprehensively beaten 3-0.
Pivotal performances throughout 2015, secured Price’s qualification for the World Matchplay in Blackpool. After seeing off 13th seed Michael Smith 10-4 in round one, he then produced the performance of his career, beating two-time world champion and at the time fourth seed Adrian Lewis by 13 legs to 10. Gezzy couldn’t keep up this good form however, and was once again comfortable beaten 17-6 by Peter Wright in the quarter-finals.
A year on, Price and Lewis once again met at the World Matchplay with the former two-time world champion stating before the game that Price “was a big mouth who never has and never will win anything.” Lewis went on to win 11-5 but little did he know he would one day be made to eat those words.
It was 2017 when Price’s career would truly kickstart. Ranked 16th in the Order of Merit after the previous World Championship he started the tournament in the third round. Victories over Justin Pipe, David Pallett, and Paul Hogan saw Gezzy into the quarter-finals, where he would face seventh seed Ian White.
White was sat on 20 for victory but bust his score allowing Price to step in with a superb 160 checkout to win in a last leg decider 10-9. In the semi-finals price survived pressure from Alan Norris to win the match 11-9 and reach his first PDC major final. There he would face Peter Wright and despite reducing the deficit from 7-2 to 8-6, it proved a match too far for the Iceman who lost 11-6.
Performances in 2017 and a strong showing at the World Championship, where he was beaten in the third round to eventual champion Michael van Gerwen, earned him a wildcard place in the 2018 Premier League. Despite draws against Wright and Daryl Gurney, Price failed to register a victory and was eliminated on judgement night in Liverpool.
The Iceman began to show consistency across 2018, reaching four major quarter-finals. However, it was to be in November where his greatest career achievement to date would happen. A 40/1 outsider at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton he upset the odds to win the tournament and become the first Welsh winner of a PDC major. It included comeback wins over Simon Whitlock, Mensur Suljovic and in the final against Gary Anderson – in what proved to be one of the most controversial showpieces at any PDC event.
The 2019 calendar year began badly for Price as he was hit with a record fine of £21,500 by the Darts Regulation Authority for his actions during the Grand Slam of Darts. On appeal however, this was reduced to £11,500. In November, Price successfully defended his title beating Wright 16-6 in the final.
Finally, we come to 2020. A year Price will undoubtedly never forget. He began the year losing narrowly in the UK Open final to Van Gerwen 11-9, but still managed to win two major TV titles – beating Rob Cross 11-9 in the World Series of Darts final and Dirk Van Duijvenbode 5-2 in the World Grand Prix final.
Price went into the 2020-21 PDC World Darts Championship seeded third, but tipped by many to go on and win the tournament.
During the early stages, Gezzy showed excellent bottle as he had to come through a last set deciding win over Jamie Lewis, as well as a last leg shootout over Brendan Dolan. Additional wins over Mervyn King, Daryl Gurney and Stephen Bunting fired the Welshman into his first PDC world final where he would face old rival Anderson. The Scot never really got going, and struggled to find trebles, allowing Price to secure a 7-3 victory and win his first ever world title. This win also saw Price rise to world No 1, knocking Van Gerwen down to No 2.
The rise of the career of Price is a brilliant story for anyone wanting to get involved with darts and follow in the footsteps of the Iceman. January 3, 2021 will be a day he will never forget. The day he won his first, and most certainly not last, world title.
By Josh Mann
