GERWYN PRICE silenced moody Joe Cullen as he survived a match dart to set up an all-Welsh clash with World Cup team-mate Jonny Clayton.
In one of the most memorable matches of this year’s tournament, the Iceman prevailed 4-3 in a sudden-death leg shootout – and threw his arrows to the ground in celebration.
Gerwyn Price’s wife Bethan broke down in tears after his victory
RexPrice came through a barnstormer against Joe Cullen[/caption]
His wife Bethan was left in tears and trembling with emotion in the VIP seats following this dramatic result.
It is the fifth time in six outings he has made the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship.
And next up is a clash with Clayton, his best pal on the circuit, with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.
It was another painful defeat for Cullen, who has a habit of being involved in humdingers at Ally Pally but ultimately going out.
Cullen had his own match dart – on double five – and showed tremendous bottle with two checkout finishes, including a 170 Big Fish, immediately after Price had wasted his own match darts.
It was not high quality as there were 75 missed doubles out of 112 attempts across the 37 legs.
Cullen had been in the news since last Sunday when he stormed out of a post-game press conference in a right old huff, claiming the media and bookies had shown him no respect.
But he did not have to worry about press duties this time as he got his coat and left the building without needing to say a word as the losing player.
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Price – the 2021 world champion when it was behind closed doors – hit 13 180s in what was an exhausting start to the evening’s proceedings.
The No10 seed said: “That was tough. I just wanted to get over the winning line. In every set he came back, the crowd were behind him.
“I thought I would lose that game. Thankfully I got a win.
“I didn’t know it was the last leg. I thought there was one more leg to go…
“He played some good darts at the right times. I am looking around thinking: ‘How am I in this position?’
“But I got out of it and I am still in.
“I kept breaking him and couldn’t hold my throw. I wanted it a bit too much. I was 2-0 up in sets. Could have easily been 2-0 down.
“I am thankful to get over the winning line.
“I have got a lot more in the tank. I can play much better than that. I did enough to win. I am happy with that.
“Alexandra Palace is not the best of places for me. So to get a win any day of the week, well I am happy.”
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