Price outs Rock to win Players Championship 17

Gerwyn Price won his fourth title of 2023 with an 8-5 triumph over Josh Rock in the Players Championship 17 final in Hildesheim on Saturday.

Price, who won back-to-back European Tour championships in March, earned the £12,000 top prize at Halle 39 to finish off a successful return to ProTour play.

The Welshman wasn’t at his best on German turf, but he put in a professional effort to defeat Northern Ireland’s Rock in Saturday’s showpiece.

Rock scored first in the decider, leading 2-1 with a 12-dart break, but the 2021 World Champion quickly rallied, collecting back-to-back 15-dart legs to reclaim the lead.

With the scores tied at four apiece, both players stumbled on the outer ring, but it was Price who benefited from a messy finish to the game, winning four of the final five legs to win.

“I scraped through a few games,” conceded Price, who also steered Wales to a second World Cup of Darts title alongside Jonny Clayton in June.

“Even in the final I wasn’t at my best, but I’m winning, and that is all that matters.

“I came here and didn’t know where my game was. I haven’t been in many ranking events over the last couple of months, so to win this title gives me a confidence boost going into tomorrow.

“These are the tournaments you need to be playing in if you want to keep sharp and you want to be winning major tournaments.

“I don’t think I played anywhere near as well as I can today, but I played some good darts when it mattered.”

Price started his season with wins over Radek Szaganski and Tony Martinez, averaging over 103 in his win against the Spaniard.

The 38-year-old then defeated Nick Kenny in an all-Welsh match to advance to the last 16, when he defeated Jamie Hughes in a nail-biting last-leg decider.

Price continued his charge with a 6-1 thrashing of Jeff Smith in the quarter-finals, average over 106 before prevailing in a deciding-leg tie against Ritchie Edhouse in the final four.

Edhouse led 6-4 when Price survived a match dart in leg 11, and the Welshman finished the comeback with back-to-back 12-darters to win in a thrilling encounter.

Meanwhile, Rock advanced to his third Players Championship final of 2023 before falling short of his first ranking championship of the season.

Earlier in the day, the World Youth Champion defeated Jeffrey de Zwaan and Joe Murnan before crashing in a sensational 112 average to demolish Ryan Joyce in round three.

In his amazing comeback triumph over Connor Scutt in the last 16, Rock achieved another ton-topping average, winning the final two legs in 13 and 11 darts, respectively.

The 22-year-old maintained his campaign with a 6-4 victory against UK Open champion Andrew Gilding to reach the semi-finals, where he easily defeated Danny van Trijp.

Van Trijp, a Dutch youth, has struggled since making the jump to the professional circuit earlier this year, but his best finish in a PDC ranking event highlighted his skills.

Van Trijp defeated second seed Damon Heta in the last 64 and also won convincingly 6-1 over Florian Hempel and William O’Connor to earn £4,000 in prize money.

Edhouse also performed admirably in his journey to the semi-finals, defeating the seeded duo of Kim Huybrechts and Daryl Gurney to finish up his greatest 2023 performance so far.

Gurney returned to play with a pair of ton-plus averages, and he was joined in the last eight by UK Open champion Gilding, Ireland’s former World Cup finalist O’Connor, and North American champion Smith.

This weekend’s ProTour action continues on Sunday, with the Players Championship 18 beginning at 1200 BST at Halle 39, with 128 players competing for the £12,000 top prize.

2023 Players Championship 17

Saturday August 26

Halle 39, Hildesheim

Last 16

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Alexander Merkx

Ritchie Edhouse 6-5 Kim Huybrechts

Jeff Smith 6-4 Chris Dobey

Gerwyn Price 6-5 Jamie Hughes

Danny van Trijp 6-3 Ryan Meikle

William O’Connor 6-5 Stephen Burton

Josh Rock 6-5 Connor Scutt

Andrew Gilding 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko

 

Quarter-Finals

Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Daryl Gurney

Gerwyn Price 6-1 Jeff Smith

Danny van Trijp 6-1 William O’Connor

Josh Rock 6-4 Andrew Gilding

 

Semi-Finals

Gerwyn Price 7-6 Ritchie Edhouse

Josh Rock 7-1 Danny van Trijp

 

Final

Gerwyn Price 8-5 Josh Rock