Friday 14 December 2018 13:00, UK
Wayne Mardle says Gerwyn Price “pushes the buttons of other players” but despite the “shenanigans” during their bad-tempered Grand Slam of Darts final has praised the Welshman for producing under pressure.
Price won eight of the last 10 legs in Wolverhampton to win his maiden major PDC title and become the first Welshman to win a PDC major title on Sunday.
Anderson was riled by the manner of Price's jubilant celebrations on the oche but Mardle believes his antics should not detract from his performance as he lifted the Eric Bristow Trophy.
Reflecting on the incident-packed final, Mardle told Sky Sports host Dave Clark: "It was brewing. It got beyond a darts match. It got ridiculous in the end.
"You shouldn't be touching other players. You shouldn't be backing in, pushing. Gerwyn Price pushes the buttons of other players - that is a fact.
"But he held it together. You can't knock him for what he has actually achieved. If we chat about the darts match rather than the shenanigans around it, he held it together better than Gary Anderson - which I don't think anyone expected to be honest."
Price, who swapped professional rugby to concentrate solely on darts in 2014, had lost to Anderson in all three of their previous televised meetings but surprised the two-time world champion to cap a memorable week, which began with him getting married.
"He has come from a background of competing through physicality," Mardle added.
"That is what he does and he has somehow injected that thought process into his game. He know tries to out muscle his opponents and let's be fair - he kind of did that there."
Price rises into the top 10 of the PDC's rankings for the first time as a result of his third memorable comeback win, following successes against Simon Whitlock and Mensur Suljovic, and Mardle says the Welshman won "fair and square".
"He has held it together better than anyone in the tournament. Gary Anderson will be absolutely livid with himself. It's not for Gerwyn Price to worry about. He has done his job, which is all he can do," said Mardle.
"He showed composure under that scrutiny, pressure. He beat the man who beat the three-time reigning champion Michael van Gerwen.
"Forget all the shenanigans, he beat him fair and square. A lot of people don't like his antics and I can see why but he has held it together.
"He kept his cool on the dartboard. He didn't keep his cool off it. Against Mensur Suljovic he was in all sorts of trouble. Against Simon Whitlock he was in trouble. Let's give him some credit."
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