Gerwyn Price lands two nine-darters and a 170 finish as he beats Michael Smith, Michael van Gerwen and James Wade to win Night Three in Belfast; he produced a flawless leg in absorbing semi-final before repeating the feat in a tense final
Friday 18 February 2022 09:28, UK
World No 1 Gerwyn Price nailed two incredible nine-dart finishes en route to victory on a magical night of Premier League action in Belfast.
The Welshman produced a night of perfection on the stage at The SSE Arena with two nine-darters, a 170 checkout, 12 180s and an average of 107.58 across his three victories.
And it all happened on a night when Price revealed he will be climbing into the boxing ring in April to raise money for charity.
The night began with a quarter-final victory over Michael Smith in which Price landed 'The Big Fish'. He pinned his first perfect leg during a stunning semi-final victory against Michael van Gerwen before sinking a second nine-darter in his 6-4 victory against James Wade in the final.
Price took home the five points, a cool £10k bonus and glory on a jaw-dropping night of action.
"Tonight I felt like I couldn't miss," Price told Sky Sports.
"Michael played really well against me; that's the best game me and James have ever had, so I'm just thankful I'm on the right end of these games.
"I'm playing well, I'm feeling good in myself and I think it's part and parcel to do with me being back in the gym and looking after myself.
"I'm back to almost my best - well, I think I might be there."
Price hit his first nine-darter on his way to an absorbing 6-5 victory over Van Gerwen with a 109 average to reach the final.
The world No 1 produced perfection in the fifth leg of the match, scoring 180, 177 and finishing things off with a 144 checkout despite dropping a dart mid-visit.
In an unrelenting clash, it was eventually settled in an 11th and deciding leg in which Price sealed victory thanks to a majestic 11-dart leg.
Wade booked his place in the final with a 6-4 defeat of Peter Wright.
In the final, Price sent the Belfast crowd into a frenzy when he pinned perfection once again in the third leg with two scores of 180 and 141 (T19, T20, D12).
'The Machine' threatened to steal the spoils with finishes of 101 and 120 to regain the upper hand, but Price came roaring back to win three legs on the spin and seal the win and move up to second in the table, a point behind defending champion Jonny Clayton.
Price took out a spectacular 170 finish to booked his spot in the semi-final, recording a 6-3 victory over Smith.
He fired his maiden nine-darter of 2022 during the New Year's Day defeat to Smith and, roared on by the support of a passionate Northern Irish crowd, he went on to replicate that achievement twice on the night in some style.
'The Iceman' averaged 108.54 - his highest personal average ever in the competition - and was six out of seven on the doubles.
Van Gerwen punished Joe Cullen's disastrous performance on the doubles (3/16) to close out a 6-3 victory in a scrappy encounter.
Wright came out on top in the all-Scottish clash, sealing a 6-4 victory over Gary Anderson with a fantastic 12-dart leg.
The reigning World Champion recovered from 3-2 with four 180s and a neat 100.3 average to overcome 'The Flying Scotsman'.
In the last quarter-final clash, Wade produced a clinical performance to defeat last week's winner Clayton 6-3 and set up a meeting with Wright.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. We're back for more Premier League action from the Westpoint Exeter on Thursday, March 3 from 7pm on Sky Sports Arena.
