Gerwyn Price picked up his first Premier League nightly win in almost two years by taking the crown in night three in Dublin.
The Welshman defeated Luke Littler and Luke Humphries before defeating Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the final to record his first nightly win of the campaign.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his success, he said: “I’m over the moon to win today. I just fed off the energy of the crowd, they were brilliant for me tonight. It’s a good boost of confidence and vital points for me in the Premier League. It’s good to get a win under your belt early and give you not so much pressure going forward.”
Price began his run to glory against the world champion and last weeks nightly winner Luke Littler. The Iceman came into the tie with an unusually good record against Littler, having won his last four matches against the 18-year-old. He went about maintaining this run very well. He won four out of the first five legs, including two breaks of throw, to put him in a commanding position. Littler would end that patch with an impressive 109 out to break throw, which was backed up with a hold to put him back within one of his opponent. Price did not panic however, and comfortably took his next two legs with throw to record a 6-4 victory, which continued his good record against the world champion and saw him into the semi-final.
In the other quarter-finals, Stephen Bunting’s woes continued as he was defeated 6-4 by Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen got the better of Chris Dobey by the same scoreline, and Nathan Aspinall defeated Rob Cross 6-3 to record his first win in the league this year.
In the semi-finals, Price was to meet the world number one Luke Humphries. It was the Englishman who started better, winning the first two legs to give him the opportunity to go halfway to victory with a hold of throw. He would not make the advantage count however, as The Iceman took out the “big fish” 170 to begin a run of four straight legs, which included a further two ton plus checkouts, 120 and 116, to leave him 4-2 up. Humphries would only manage one further leg, and a break of throw in the ninth leg secured Price a 6-3 win which booked him a spot in his first nightly final of the year.
In the other semi-final, Nathan Aspinall faced off against Michael van Gerwen. The Asp would get the better of Mighty Mike 6-3, to book his spot in what was also his first final of the year.
The final began with two holds of throw, and it took another 120 out from Price to break Aspinall’s throw in leg three to find the front. The Englishman immediately broke back however, to keep the trading of legs going up until leg six, which made the score 3-3. The big moment came when Price took the seventh leg against throw to restore his advantage, and this time he would make it count. He prevented Aspinall from taking another leg, and recorded a 13-dart break in the ninth leg to secure a 6-3 victory, which in turn won him his first nightly crown in the Premier League since April 2023, almost two years ago.
A semi-final exit for Luke Humphries was enough to keep him at the top of the table, and make him the first player to reach ten points this year. Victory for Price tonight launches him up to second, with seven points. The top four is completed by Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler, who have six points and five points respectively. Next week the league comes to Devon, with Westpoint Arena in Exeter the destination.