The tiny Caerphilly village of Markham raised a world champion. With a population of under 2,000, the chances of this happening were exceptionally slim, but the dedication of former rugby pro Gerwyn Price has seen him fly to the very top of the darts world rankings. In an area where cheese has been more likely to gain recognition than sporting success, Price has shown that true grit and determination can help you achieve anything. The 36-year-old was a successful rugby union hooker, turning out for Welsh Premier Division outfits Neath and Cross Keys. Price was even recruited by Pro12 side Glasgow Warriors as second-choice cover.
However, it was a chance encounter with fellow Welsh darts pro Barrie Bates that inspired Price to retire from rugby and focus all his energies into the darts scene. Having impressed locally for his Markham Welfare team, Bates recommended Price to enter the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) qualifying school in a bid to earn a PDC Tour card. At the second attempt, Price would go on to do so, earning a two-year card and a chance to mix it with the biggest names in the sport.
The early years of Price’s PDC darts career
Price only started playing darts competitively on the Pro Tour back in 2014, when his performances eventually secured him a debut showing at the 2015 World Championships. However, it took him until the 2018 World Championships to win for the first time against Ted Evetts. In the years prior to that, Price was continuing to make his mark in Pro Tour events. During his debut season, he would reach the last 16 of the Players Championship tournaments on two occasions.
In 2017, Price reached the semi-finals of the World Series of Darts in Las Vegas. The bright lights of the Nevada desert have long been a home for major darts tournaments, including the Las Vegas Open and the Desert Classic. Vegas remains a hub for many other sporting and competitive events too. It’s the long-standing home for the World Series of Poker, a popular game in Vegas, along with roulette. The game of roulette has also enchanted people for centuries, largely because of its simplicity to understand, particularly once familiar with the anatomy of the roulette wheel and its table layout. In addition to roulette and poker tournaments, Las Vegas also hosts elite boxing and MMA nights, so to make a sporting splash in the bright lights of ‘Sin City’ certainly helped put Price on the world darts radar.
2018: The moment Gerwyn Price well and truly arrived on the world darts scene
2018 felt like the breakthrough year for Price, when a battling third-round loss to reigning world champion Michael van Gerwen at the World Championships secured him a wildcard spot in the 2018 Premier League Darts. He would also go on to claim his first televised PDC major, overcoming Gary Anderson in the final of the Grand Slam of Darts. He would follow that up with back-to-back Grand Slam wins in 2019.
Price has also developed something of a rugged reputation as one of the ‘bad boys’ of professional darts. He was heavily fined for gamesmanship issues amid his 2019 Grand Slam of Darts success which tarnished his victory to some extent. Despite those on-stage altercations, Price sought to take his darts to another level and entertain fans for his arrows rather than his dustups. He reached the last four of the 2020 World Championships and was beaten by the eventual winner Peter Wright at the semi-finals.
Wales’ first world darts champion is crowned
It was this disappointment that spurred him on to go further in the 2021 World Championships. Seeded three, Price was expected to reach the semis at the very least. After a heart-pounding final leg decider in the quarter finals against Daryl Gurney, Price brushed aside Stephen Bunting to reach the final against Gary Anderson. Price was the most consistent throughout the final, overcoming the experienced Scotsman to win 7-3 at Alexandra Palace.
In doing so, Price usurped van Gerwen as the world number one in the darts rankings. As the first Welsh world darts champion, it’s been a fairytale story so far for the man from Markham. It’s clear Price has no intention of letting up after his first major taste of success. He followed his world title up with victory at the recent Milton Keynes Players Championship and a semi-final appearance at the Masters. With career earnings approaching the £1.5 million mark, the last six years have certainly vindicated Price’s decision to turn his darting hobby into a fully-fledged career.