Following his second round victory over Connor Scutt at Alexandra Palace, Gerwyn Price revealed he was planning to boycott the World Championship due to fears of a hostile atmosphere.
Price, 38, has a love-hate relationship with darts fans across the UK and the Alexandra Palace stage has been a stumbling block for the Welshman in the past – which led to one of the sport’s most iconic moments last year.
During his quarter-final thumping at the hands of Gabriel Clemens, the former professional rugby player entered the stage after a break wearing a now-banned pair of ear defenders to deflect the crowd jeers.
After the game, he turned to social media to claim that could be the last time we’ll ever see him play in the World Championship again. Unsurprisingly however, Price made his return as expected on Monday night.
Following his opening win, Price said:
“At six o’clock yesterday, I was still in the house and I probably wasn’t going to play in the tournament.
“Last year the Ally Pally crowd was on my back, and I was a bit apprehensive, but they were brilliant tonight.”
THE ICEMAN POWERS THROUGH! ❄️
Gerwyn Price proves too strong for Connor Scutt as he kicks off his campaign with a 3-0 win!
📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD#WCDarts | R2 pic.twitter.com/6CCzukFTWD
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 18, 2023
According to the best new UK betting sites, Price is the 9/2 third favourite to win the tournament in 2024 and claim his second world title after maiden triumph in 2021.
He beat Gary Anderson in a behind closed doors clash to lift the trophy and has publicly stated if the event was held in Wolverhampton every year he’d be a multiple-time World Champion.
The seven-time major winner finished as runner-up to Michael van Gerwen in the Premier League this year and won the World Cup for Wales alongside good friend Jonny Clayton.
By his standards he’ll be disappointed not to have picked up a title but winning solves everything and if he shows a newfound mental resilience he’ll stand a great chance of triumph in North London.
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