Sporting Life
Gerwyn Price is the Grand Slam of Darts champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
Gerwyn Price is the Grand Slam of Darts champion (Picture: Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Darts results: Gerwyn Price thrashes Peter Wright 16-8 in the Grand Slam of Darts final

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Mon November 22, 2021 · 3y ago

Gerwyn Price thrashed Peter Wright 16-8 to win the Grand Slam of Darts title for the third time in four years.

The world champion, who first lifted the Eric Bristow Trophy in controversial fashion against Gary Anderson back in 2018 before retaining it with a thumping 16-6 triumph over Wright 12 months later, saved his best two performances of the tournament for the final day as he brushed James Wade aside 16-9 in the semi-finals before his demolition job of Snakebite with the title on the line.

Price averaged 103 and 104 in those two games respectively as his challengers neither peaked nor pressurised him in any aspect of the game, leading to a rather anti-climatic end to an otherwise enthralling event which hit the sporting headlines multiple times this week thanks largely to the history-making feats of Fallon Sherrock.

That will matter not a jot to the Iceman as he celebrates his first major title since his Ally Pally heroics back in January and on this evidence he's hitting top gear at just the right time as he looks ahead to retaining his crown.

Wright was competing in his third Grand Slam final having also lost his first to MVG in 2017 but couldn't repeat the astonishing levels he produced earlier in the day to come from 14-8 down to stun Michael Smith 16-8. He averaged 115 and hit eight 180s in that eight-leg streak (more details on the semi-finals below) and what he could have done with a run like that before Price got too far ahead.

The World Matchplay champion could only muster an average of 91.51 in the final and hit just five of the 13 maximums in the match while he spurned 10 of his 18 darts at doubles.

Price was 100% on the outer ring until the eighth leg of the match and although that kind of accuracy was always going to come down, he still ended up with 47.1% despite missing five match darts in the penultimate leg.

Session-by-session report and match stats

Session one (Price 4-1 Wright): Gerwyn Price opened up a 4-1 lead over Peter Wright after dominating the opening session of the Grand Slam of Darts final.

The world champion kicked things off with a superb 140 checkout to complete a 12-darter and was soon 3-0 up as Snakebite made a slow start to proceedings.

Wright finally got a leg on the board but couldn't maintain any momentum in the next as Price pinned tops to stay 100% on the outer ring.

Session two (Price 7-3 Wright): Wright looked as though he was launching a fight back when picking up the first two legs after the interval and it could have been three only for him to miss double 16 for a 106 checkout before Price capitalised despite missing his first attempt at a double in the match.

The two-time Grand Slam champion then cruised through the next in 14 darts before his second 180 in the match helped him on his way to a superb 10-darter that reestablished his four-leg cushion.

Session three (Price 11-4 Wright): Price's doubling started to falter very slightly over the next three legs but it mattered little as Wright hardly put any pressure on apart from the last of those when he missed an attempt at tops for a 116 checkout.

The gulf in class between the pair was causing an anti-climax to a memorable tournament but there was an ironic celebration from Snakebite when he finally snapped a six-leg losing streak after Price uncharacteristically missed two at tops.

His mini revival was short-lived, however, as his scoring deserted him once again and was still back on 278 when Price pinned tops.

Session four (Price 14-6 Wright): Wright's forlorn hopes never looked liked changing and after a checkout from 85 halved the deficit to 12-6, he lost the next leg before being crucially punished for a missed attempt at tops for a 100 finish.

Price's levels remained consistent throughout the session, which he edged 3-2 to move just two legs from glory.

Session five (Price 16-8 Wright): Price spurned his first match dart at double five when leading 15-6 as Wright delayed the inevitable but there was finally some genuine drama in the next leg when the world number one spurned a further five under no pressure before Snakebite took out 155 from nowhere.

The World Matchplay champion had another attempt to prolong the agony in the next leg only to miss double tops and double 10 as Price finally completed his one-sided victory.

Price 16-8 Wright: Match Stats

  • Averages: 103.9 - 91.5
  • 180s: 8-5
  • Doubles: 16/34 - 8/18
  • 100+ checkouts: 1 - 1
  • High checkout: 140 - 155

Semi-final round-up

Peter Wright produced a comeback of the ages to book his place in the Grand Slam of Darts final against Gerwyn Price on Sunday night.

Snakebite struggled to find his top form throughout most of his semi-final against Michael Smith, who surged into lead of 12-8 after a superb 121 checkout had punished his opponent for missed a dart at double 16 when the scores were level at 8-8.

Bully Boy was great value for his advantage having bossed the averages while he'd also hit 10 of the 18 maximums so far and also weighed in with a 170 checkout in the seventh leg.

However, Wright produced a Big Fish of his own to reduce the deficit to 12-9 when Smith was waiting expectantly on 90 and that started a sensational run of eight successive legs in which he averaged over 115 and fired in eight maximums to storm into his third Grand Slam of Darts final.

Wright lost both his previous finals against Michael van Gerwen in 2017 and Price in 2019 but on this evidence the World Matchplay champion could add this prestigious major to his glittering CV.

The turnaround was also great news for those who followed our final day tips as it brought up three winning selections: Price and Wright to win and both hit most 180s (6/1), Wright v Smith to have over 20.5 180s (7/5) and Wright to win, score over 8.5 180s and have a checkout of over 110.5 (2/1).

Earlier, Gerwyn Price needed no such comeback as he brutally dismantled James Wade 16-9 to reach this final for a third time in four years.

The Iceman, who controversially beat Gary Anderson to win his maiden TV title here in 2018 before defending his crown against Snakebite 12 months later, blasted out of the blocks with a high octane display that gave the former two-time champion little chance to make a decent fight of it.

Although his early 3-0 lead was swiftly wiped out, Price won 11 of the next 13 legs to open up an almost unassailable 14-5 lead and by that point he was averaging around the 105 mark and had hit three 100+ checkouts including a high of 120.

Wade was able to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline by winning four of the next six legs but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Price sealed his place in the final with an average of 102.58 compared to his opponent's 94.52.

The world champion also hit nine of the 15 180s in the match and pinned 16 of his 25 attempts at doubles as Wade missed 10 of his 19.

Grand Slam of Darts: Sunday results

Sunday November 21
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

  • Gerwyn Price 16-9 James Wade
  • Peter Wright 16-12 Michael Smith

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

  • Gerwyn Price 16-8 Peter Wright

CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND GROUP STANDINGS

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