Price wins dramatic final on day four of Autumn Series
Gerwyn Price survived four match darts to win his first ranking title since March on day four of the Autumn Series.
Down 7-4 to Devon Petersen, The Iceman took advantage of The African Warrior missing chances to win what would have been his first ever PDC ranking event. Instead, Price came out the winner 8-7 to take his 12th PDC title home.
It rounded off a dramatic day four of the Autumn Series, which saw:
- Petersen whitewash Michael van Gerwen 6-0 in the board final
- Joe Cullen and Peter Wright play a game of the Autumn Series contender
- Jonny Clayton average 112.2 en route to a last 16 place
- James Wade hit a nine darter
- the race for the World Grand Prix tighten up even more
Price produces stunning comeback
The Iceman said after his win that it was a strange day for him. Normally when he wins titles, he hits excellent averages and loads of 180s. Today though, he flew under the radar until the last 16, when he produced some excellent quality.
Price started the day with a 6-1 win over Nick Kenny, before beating Martin Schindler and the winner of day two Damon Heta 6-4 to win his board. His highest average was 95.7, which meant he was not one many people were looking at to win the title today heading into the last 16.
That all changed with a 6-0 demolition of Ryan Murray in the last 16, as The Iceman hit a 104.9 average. Next up was a gritty 6-4 quarter final win over Mensur Suljovic, before producing another astonishing display against Ryan Searle. With the score at 2-2, Price reeled off five straight legs to win 7-2 and make his first final of the week, averaging 105.8.
That set up a final against Petersen, and Price struggled to keep up The African Warrior’s scoring for the first 10 legs of the contest. Petersen averaged around 105 for most of the match, winning every one of his legs in 16 darts or less to go 7-4 up and within a leg of his first ever PDC title. Price stayed with him though, hitting a 68 to take the match to 7-5.
The turning point came in the 13th and 14th legs. After Petersen missws a shot at double 16, Price hit a lovely 78 checkout to break the throw for the first time and trail 7-6. Then, in the 14th leg, Petersen hit a lovely 136 to set up three at double top for the match. After Price could not hit on the bullseye, Petersen missed all three at tops to end the contest. Price then found double eight to level the game up and take it to a sudden death leg.
The Iceman then found the scoring power, and Petersen couldn’t find the treble. Price hit a 180 followed by a 128, and took out the 40 remaining points he needed to break the throw once again and win the match 8-7. It was the only time he led in the contest.
So near and yet so far for Petersen
Devon Petersen has been threatening to make finals throughout the year, and made a semi final earlier in the week too. However, he will be kicking himself tonight after not being able to get the job done when he arguably played the best out of anyone.
He started the day with a 6-2 victory over Robert Thornton in round 1, before grinding out a 6-5 victory over Joe Murnan in round 2. That set up a board final against the world number one, and yesterday’s winner, Michael van Gerwen. Petersen played magnificently, and beat him 6-0 with a 101.3 average, becoming the first player to whitewash van Gerwen since Peter Wright did so in the European Darts Grand Prix final in 2017.
That seemed to set The African Warrior up for the rest of the day. He beat Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 in the last 16 with a 99.5 average, before producing his best performance of the day in the quarter finals, winning 6-2 against Nathan Aspinall with an average of 110.
He then won 7-2 against close friend Joe Cullen in the semi final, becoming the first African player ever to reach a PDC final. Petersen then produced some stunning stuff against Price, but couldn’t find the all important match dart to get over the line and win his first ever PDC title.
However, it’s not all bad news for Petersen, as he run today all but secures him a place at the World Grand Prix in Coventry next month.
What else happened?
Good runs from Joe Cullen and Ryan Searle to the semi finals also all but secured their places at the Grand Prix too. Cullen produced the second highest average of the day, a 112.2, in a magical 6-4 quarter final win against Peter Wright, who averaged 106.1 in the process, in a game of the Autumn Series contender.
The highest average of the day went to Jonny Clayton. The Ferret produced a 112.5 in a 6-1 round 1 win against Jeff Smith. Clayton’s run to the last 16 helped him into World Grand Prix qualifying contention, as did a quarter final run for Ross Smith. Smith is now £1,250 away from potentially qualifying.
The biggest move in the World Grand Prix race is the 16th spot. Day one finalist Madars Razma has been leapfrogged by Mervyn King, who’s run to round three saw him overtake the Lativan for the final qualifying spot. They are level on £16,500 and whoever goes furthest tomorrow will be in pole position to take the final qualifying spot.
However, first round losses for:
- Kim Huybrechts
- Jeffrey De Zwaan
- Dirk van Duijvenbode
See them slip further down the qualification spots. They will need solid days tomorrow to ensure they cannot be caught in the Euro Tour event next weekend and to qualify for Coventry.
View the:
- PDC Order of Merit. The top 16 players on this will be seeded for the World Grand Prix.
- PDC Pro Tour of Merit. The top 16 players who aren’t already in the top 16 on the normal order of merit will qualify.
Finally, congratulations to James Wade. He hit a nine darter in his first round victory over Robert Collins, before losing to Derk Telenkes 6-4 in the last 16.
How can I follow the final day of the Autumn Series?
We’ll have the final day of the Autumn Series, covered at Online Darts.
There will be a live blog from 10.45am giving you results and ranking changes as they happen.
There will be updates across our:
You can also watch the Autumn Series live.
Day Four Results
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-7 Devon Petersen
Semi Final
Devon Petersen 7-2 Joe Cullen
Gerwyn Price 7-2 Ryan Searle
Quarter Final
Joe Cullen 6-3 Derk Telenkes
Devon Petersen 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
Ryan Searle 6-5 Ross Smith
Round Four
Joe Cullen 6-4 Peter Wright
Derk Telenkes 6-4 James Wade
Devon Petersen 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall 6-5 Danny Noppert
Gerwyn Price 6-0 Ryan Murray
Mensur Suljovic 6-5 William O’Connor
Ross Smith 6-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ryan Searle 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Round Three
Peter Wright 6-5 Matthew Edgar
Joe Cullen 6-2 Rob Cross
James Wade 6-3 Jamie Hughes
Derk Telenkes 6-5 Andy Boulton
Devon Petersen 6-0 Michael van Gerwen
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Jose De Sousa
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Ricky Evans
Danny Noppert 6-3 Christian Bunse
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Damon Heta
Ryan Murray 6-4 Scott Waites
Mensur Suljovic v Karel Sedlacek
William O’Connor 6-4 Luke Humphries
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Mervyn King
Ross Smith 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Ryan Searle 6-5 Glen Durrant
Round Two
Peter Wright 6-0 Max Hopp
Matthew Edgar 6-5 Keegan Brown
Rob Cross 6-4 Bradley Brooks
Joe Cullen 6-2 Kirk Shepherd
James Wade 6-0 Jitse Van der Wal
Jamie Hughes 6-5 Reece Robinson
Andy Boulton 6-2 Josh Payne
Derk Telnekes 6-4 Andrew Gilding
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Ted Evetts
Devon Petersen 6-5 Joe Murnan
Jose De Sousa 6-4 Vincent van der Voort
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Marko Kantele
Nathan Aspinall 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Ricky Evans 6-4 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Noppert 6-0 Mark McGeeney
Christian Bunse 6-4 Adrian Lewis
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Martin Schindler
Damon Heta 6-4 Jelle Klaasen
Scott Waites 6-1 Brendan Dolan
Ryan Murray 6-4 Adam Hunt
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Conan Whitehead
Karel Sedlacek 6-4 Justin Pipe
Luke Humphries 6-5 Boris Krcmar
William O’Connor 6-3 Steve Beaton
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3 Jason Lowe
Mervyn King 6-5 John Michael
Ross Smith 6-5 Dave Chisnall
Ryan Meikle 6-2 Chris Dobey
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-5 Richard North
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Gary Blades
Glen Durrant 6-3 Yordi Meeuwisse
Ryan Searle 6-0 Lisa Ashton
Round One
Peter Wright 6-2 Wayne Jones
John Henderson v Max Hopp
Keegan Brown 6-4 Geert Nentjes
Matthew Edgar 6-4 Steve Brown
Rob Cross 6-3 William Borland
Bradley Brooks 6-5 Steve West
Joe Cullen 6-1 Steffen Siepmann
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 6-3 Robert Collins
Jitse Van der Wal 6-4 Carl Wilkinson
Jamie Hughes 6-1 Mickey Mansell
Reece Robinson 6-4 Jesus Noguera
Josh Payne 6-1 Daryl Gurney
Andy Boulton 6-3 Martijn Kleermaker
Derk Telnekes 6-2 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Andrew Gilding 6-3 Callan Rydz
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Benito van de Pas
Ted Evetts 6-4 Arjan Konterman
Devon Petersen 6-2 Robert Thornton
Joe Murnan 6-5 Daniel Larsson
Jose De Sousa 6-3 Darren Webster
Vincent van der Voort 6-3 Brian Raman
Jermaine Wattimena W-F Jamie Lewis
Marko Kantele 6-5 Ron Meulenkamp
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Justin Hood
Simon Whitlock 6-3 Darius Labanauskas
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-2 Madars Razma
Ricky Evans 6-5 Kai Fan Leung
Danny Noppert 6-1 Alan Tabern
Mark McGeeney 6-2 Scott Taylor
Adrian Lewis 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Christian Bunse 6-2 David Pallett
Gerwyn Price 6-1 Nick Kenny
Martin Schindler 6-1 Aaron Beeney
Damon Heta 6-3 Peter Jacques
Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Nathan Derry
Brendan Dolan 6-4 Steve Lennon
Scott Waites 6-3 Barrie Bates
Adam Hunt 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Ryan Murray 6-2 Ryan Hogarth
Mensur Suljovic 6-0 Harald Leitinger
Conan Whitehead 6-2 Harry Ward
Justin Pipe 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Andy Hamilton
Boris Krcmar 6-3 Michael Smith
Luke Humphries 6-4 Scott Baker
William O’Connor 6-2 Kim Huybrechts
Steve Beaton 6-5 Scott Mitchell
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Gavin Carlin
Jason Lowe 6-4 Niels Zonneveld
Mervyn King 6-5 Maikel Verberk
John Michael 6-4 Vincent Van der Meer
Dave Chisnall 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Ross Smith 6-5 Toni Alcinas
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Gabriel Clemens
Chris Dobey 6-2 Graham Usher
Rowby-John Rodriguez 6-3 Ian White
Richard North 6-4 Mike De Decker
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Jeff Smith
Gary Blades 6-4 Jan Dekker
Glen Durrant 6-5 Adrian Gray
Yordi Meeuwisse v James Wilson
Ryan Searle 6-2 Krzysztof Kciuk
Lisa Ashton 6-3 Matt Clark
