I’ll be at my best from quarters on, vows Price after win against Clayton

GERWYN Price is eyeing a second World Championship title after beating Wales teammate Jonny Clayton 4-2 to progress to the quarter-finals.

‘The Iceman’ will return to Alexandra Palace in the new year in a bid to add to his 2021 crown.

Price, from Markham, wasn’t at his best against Carmarthenshire’s Clayton but became the first player into the last eight.

He raced into a 2-0 lead with an average of 107 before Clayton, his teammate in a pair of World Cup of Darts wins for Wales, hit back to level it up at 2-2.

Clayton’s mid-match form then deserted him and Price, the 10th seed, got the job done and ended with an average of 92.28 and a checkout percentage of 36.1.

“I felt like I was playing really well in the first two sets, but I don’t know what happened after that,” said Price, who beat Ireland’s Keane Barry before Christmas and then Joe Cullen in a thriller.

“I probably wasn’t myself up on the stage, but I’ll be myself from the quarter-final onwards.

“I know that if I play like I did in the first two sets for the rest of the tournament, then I’m going to be tough to beat.”

Price’s win was followed by an upset as reigning champion Luke Humphries was knocked out by Peter Wright.

Two-time former champion Wright rolled back the years to stun big favourite Humphries, who was well below par in a 4-1 defeat.

Wright, 54, who lifted the crown in 2020 and 2022, fought back the tears after a convincing win in which he averaged nearly 101 and hit 70 per cent of his doubles.

After producing a 12-dart break to open up a 3-1 lead, Wright kept his foot to the floor, making back-to-back 13-dart finishes and then a 14-darter to close out the match in stunning fashion.

The quarter-finals are held on New Year’s Day with the semis on Thursday and final on Friday.