The Iceman Is Finally Melting A Few Hearts As Welsh Darts Continues To Land Above Its Weight

By Graham Thomas

So, Gerwyn Price did not make it to the semi-finals of the World Championship, but it was a good tournament for him and for Welsh darts.

Not only did Price rekindle some of his best form to reach the last eight, but Wales had three players in the round of 16.

Price and Jonny Clayton met each other at that stage, while Robert Owen – old Stack Attack himself – reached that elite grouping for the first time at the age of 40.

Three Welsh players in the last 16 is pretty good going for a sport that now extends its brightly-coloured and beery influence into countries all around the world.

There are players from 28 different nations at Alexandra Palace including places as diverse and far-flung as Germany, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, the USA, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, India, New Zealand, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the Bahamas.

Gerwyn Price’s smile when Chris Dobey misses double one for the match! Then the dance when he takes the set!

Box Office darts.pic.twitter.com/sseXnng9PV

— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) January 1, 2025

For Wales to have three players in the last 16 – 19 per cent – is remarkable, almost as remarkable as when Wales won the World Cup of Darts – thanks to Price and Clayton – in both 2020 and 2023.

The nicknames may be getting worse – “Stack Attack” compares poorly to Wales’ former world champion Richie Burnett, who went from being known as “The Prince of Wales” to being re-branded as “The Dartist Formerly Known as Prince” – but the actual darts is getting better.

By reaching the last 16, Owen moved 18 places up the world rankings to number 59 – not quite high enough yet to give up his day job as a frozen food delivery man (surely, he should be “The Iceland Man “ to counter Price’s “Ice Man”?) but he’s heading towards the full-time pro ranks.

Clayton was disappointed with his defeat to Price, since the beaten man is currently ranked at world No.7, compared to Price’s No.10, but “The Ferrett” – who was working as a part-time council plasterer as recently as 2022 – should be soothed by the fact he has won over £500,000 in prize money alone over the past two years.

For Price, the tournament was bittersweet. He reached the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four years, but having held a 2-0 lead over Chris Dobey, the Markham man’s inconsistency on doubles cost him dearly and he lost 5-3.

Gerwyn Price Bows Out But Earns Respect Of Chris Dobey After Dramatic Clash

The defeat was against an opponent Price had previously dominated with 15 victories in their past 16 meetings.

But there were flashes of the old Price – champion in 2021 – throughout the tournament and perhaps as importantly there now seems to be a mutual acceptance and respect – if not quite love – between him and the fans at Ally Pally.

Price was abused by many online – before, during and after his defeat to Dobey. He seems to provoke a level of hatred and hostility out of all proportion to his pantomime villain role play on stage.

When Price did a little jig of delight after winning a leg that Dobey had thrown away, the outrage in the arena was nothing compared to what followed on social media.

“If he plays for the opposition darts team, he’s the biggest wanker you’ve ever seen. If he plays for your team, he’s an absolute legend” was among the kinder comments on X.

It’s notable however, that Price was defended by Dobey after the match. The victor had nothing but respect and admiration for the former world champion.

Other opponents, too, seem to have reached the conclusion that Price the showman is good for the sport and that he’s a role-play character in much the same way that England rugby forward Joe Marler had a script to follow every time he played in Wales.

It’s funny how 99% of professionals always say Gerwyn Price is a good lad and they don’t mind the way he goes on yet he still gets grief from fans https://t.co/lxAzC6b5ra

— Charlie (@chahaz9) January 1, 2025

Not that Price should be too upset, either, since he, too, like Clayton has pocketed around £500,000 in prize money over the past two years – perhaps, only half of what he earned from the previous two years – but considerably more than he ever earned as a rugby player with Cross Keys and Glasgow.

Whilst his former sport declines – maybe, terminally – darts is most definitely on the up.

All 90,000 tickets for the World Championship sold out inside 15 minutes and the PDC reckon they could fill Ally Pally three times over if they had the room.

That has sparked talk of moving the event to London’s ExCel or even Wembley and who knows? Maybe in a few years, the whole show will be singing, cheering and jeering (but not drinking) its merry way through the day in some outdoor venue in Saudi Arabia.

If it is, then you can bet your bottom dollar that a few Welsh players will be among the entrants.

As for the 2025 title, DragonBet have Luke Littler as their 4/6 favouitite to become world champion for the first time, with Michael van Gerwen at 11/5, Stephen Bunting at 15/2, and Dobey the outsider at 10/1.