World Darts Championship hopeful Gerwyn Price had the motivation he needed to make rival Raymond van Barneveld "zip it" en route to a one-sided win at Alexandra Palace.
'The Iceman' eviscerated 'Barney' 4-0 on Tuesday to clinch his maiden televised win over the Dutch darts giant, who overpowered Price twice in the space of five days at last month's Grand Slam of Darts. But the WDC's top seed was overjoyed to end his televised duck in this particular matchup, illustrating to Sky Sports just what the win meant to him.
"I just wanted to get a win over Raymond so he can zip it a little bit and not keep talking about how many times he’s beat me on TV," said Price after the result. "I don’t think he’s been on any TV events the last couple of years so it’s pretty difficult to beat him if he’s not there.
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"I think he played me when I was just starting, two or three years ago, but when I’m at my game I think he knows that I’m going to beat him." Price concluded Tuesday's encounter with a 128 checkout to move within one win of the quarter-finals.
His 93.68 average is an improvement on his second-round showing against Luke Woodhouse, where he went a set down before storming back to win 3-1. Price's latest victory was greeted by a mix of boos and cheers among the Ally Pally audience, but the Welshman was visibly delighted with a landmark result.
"I can finally say I've beaten Raymond on TV, right," he told Sky Sports. "C'mon!" After being told he was "ruthless" en route to a 4-0 sweep, he replied he'd "let Raymond off numerous times" at November's Grand Slam but was eager not to repeat the same mistakes.
"Today I was clinical," he continued. "I think the 66 to go two sets up—if I was in the Grand Slam, I think I lose that and then he's back in the game. One leg, I let him off and then he wins it. . .then the crowd are back with Raymond, so it's really, really tough but. . . [smiling] c'mon!"
The 2021 world champion will face either 16th seed Ryan Searle or No. 17 Jose de Sousa in the fourth round. Price exited last year's tournament in the last eight following a narrow defeat to eventual runner-up Michael Smith, whom he could encounter in this year's semis (should they both make it that far).
Regardless of how the remainder of the competition pans out for Price, that breakthrough win over Barney will always carry major value. Odds favourite Michael van Gerwen remains "the one to beat" at Alexandra Palace, however, as the pre-tournament frontrunners wind their way towards a potential blockbuster in the final.
