With his best performance so far, world champion Gerwyn Price has reached the quarter-finals of the Darts World Cup. The 36-year-old Welshman beat the Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-1 and showed a strong performance after a 0-1 deficit.
Price had some problems in the two previous games against the Englishman Ritchie Edhouse (3: 1) and Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts (4: 3) and was now acting sovereign and dominant for the first time.
Van Duijvenbode, who is known by the nickname “Aubergine King” because of his job on an aubergine farm, missed making it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, as it did last year. The top-seeded price is considered a big tournament favorite and will now face the Englishman Michael Smith in the round of the last eight on New Years. This defeated the Welsh co-favorite Jonny Clayton 4: 3 in a high-class game. Clayton won four major tournaments in 2021, more than any other darts professional.
Price had spoken out in favor of canceling the title fights because of the numerous corona cases at the World Cup. “The tournament should be postponed,” Price wrote on Instagram. This is probably not the best option, “but an option that I would agree with.” The PDC has so far not announced anything in this direction.