PRICE PICKS UP SECOND PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

By Aaron Nijjar  

GERWYN PRICE picked up his second Players Championship title of the year by beating Ian White 8-4 in the final at Leicester.  

Former World champion Price hit a stunning 140 checkout in the fourth leg – the highest of the match – to take a 3-1 lead against White who made his first ProTour final since 2020.  

Three-time Grand Slam winner Price kept his composure in the remainder of the contest to secure the crown.

Price averaged 94.67 to White’s 96.99 and had fewer 180s – three to six – but his checkout success of 34.8% versus 28.6% proved crucial.

‘The Iceman’ became the first player to win two ProTour events in 2025.  

World No. 12 Price has now won the fourth most Players Championship titles with 19 going ahead of James Wade and Dave Chisnall (18).  

Following his victory, Price admitted he has been battling an injury over the past week. 

He said: “I was a little bit peed off in the Premier League last week. I was struggling with an injury, so I sorted that out.  

“I did not feel too good at the beginning of today. I was a little bit up and down in games.  

“But a win will give me a boost of confidence heading into tomorrow and the Premier League.  

“It’s not 100 percent. Today I was a little bit inconsistent. I would play really well then, I did not perform in the final.  

“But I battled on. In the past I probably threw those games away. But today I stuck it in till the end and I won.” 

The Markham thrower revealed he predicted his Players Championship Nine triumph and vowed to attend more ProTour events in order to boost his ranking on the Order of Merit. 

He added: “Even though I did not feel great this morning I sat on a table with James Wade this morning and told him I told him I’m going to win today. And I went on and done it.  

“These are my priorities. The ProTour’s and the Europeans. I’ve picked up two of these if I win another tomorrow that is a quarter of a major.  

“The way I look at it I need to keep coming to these and keep picking up ranking points.” 

‘Gezzy’ kicked off the day with a 101.14 average and a routine 6-4 win over Robert Grundy in round one

Seven-time major winner Price produced a superb display averaging 104.50 in a 6-2 victory against top seed Dave Chisnall in round four.  

Price followed this up with a 6-3 triumph over Dutchman Niels Zonneveld in the quarter-final.  

Welshman Price then demolished Brendan Dolan 7-0 in the semi-final as he averaged 114.36 and hit a brilliant 123 checkout in the match.  

Elsewhere, Gary Anderson hit a stellar nine-dart finish against Krzystof Ratajski in the last 128.  

Luke Littler was knocked out in round three by White who averaged a remarkable 106.04 and hit six out of eight doubles to comeback from 5-4 down and win 6-5 against ‘The Nuke’.  

White went on to score wins over Josh Rock and Cameron Menzies in the quarters and semis.

Rob Cross, Chris Dobey and Mike De Decker all departed in round two.  

Image by Taylor Lanning.