With a sensational performance “The Iceman” Gerwyn Price won the first edition of the Hungarian Darts Trophy at the Papp László Sportaréna in Budapest.
In the final the current World Champion defeated “Bully Boy” Michael Smith comfortably by 8:2. With a 109 average the Welshman was unstoppable on this evening.
Price took an early 2:0 lead with two 12-darters and a 130 finish before Smith equalised in the fourth leg. The now four-time European Tour champion picked up the pace and won six legs in a row. He eventually crowned himself champion on double 10 and thanked the almost 5,000 fans for their support in the post-match interview.
“It was an unbelievable reception today, thank you all for the support. It really carried me from the semi-final onwards,” said Price.
The Price-Show really took off in the previous semi-final. The Welshman showed all his skills for the first time in the tournament against Luke Humphries, who managed to play his way into the semi-finals of a European Tour event for the first time. Price defeated “Cool Hand Luke” by 7:4 with a 108 average.
“I changed my darts in the quarter-finals because I didn’t feel comfortable. This semi-final felt great from start to finish”, Price said in the interview.
Finalist Michael Smith played consistently well throughout the weekend, winning mostly in commanding fashion on his way to the final. In round 3 he gave debutant Keane Barry no chance and defeated him by 6:1.
In the quarter-finals “Snakebite” Peter Wright never really got into the match against Smith and was defeated by 2:6.
In the semi-finals the Portuguese José de Sousa awaited. “The Special One” put Smith under some pressure but in the end had to admit defeat by 4:7.
The journey of the young Czech Adam Gawlas came to a dramatic end in the quarter-finals against de Sousa. The fan favourite of the Hungarian crowd missed a match dart on double 16 in the decider, which the Portuguese then won on tops. Despite the loss, Gawlas was given a celebratory send-off and has definitely attracted attention with his good performances.
Three times World Champion Michael van Gerwen was eliminated in the afternoon session and remains without a title in 2021.
In a thrilling third round match against “History Maker” Brendan Dolan van Gerwen broke the throw to take a 4:2 lead, averaged 102 and hardly missed a double.
But Dolan kept up the pressure and hit double 12 in the tenth leg to level the match at 5:5. After van Gerwen missed four chances to win the match Dolan checked with his seventh match dart on double 1.
The 2021 European Tour continues with the Gibraltar Darts Trophy from September 24-26.
Sunday, September 5
Afternoon Session
Round 3
Joe Cullen 6-4 Rob Cross
James Wade 2-6 Luke Humphries
Michael van Gerwen 5-6 Brendan Dolan
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Damon Heta
José de Sousa 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Adam Gawlas 6-2 Lewis Williams
Michael Smith 6-1 Keane Barry
*William Borland withdrew due to a personal family issue and his scheduled third round opponent, Peter Wright, received a bye into the quarter-finals.
Evening Session
Quarter-Finals
Joe Cullen 4-6 Luke Humphries
Brendan Dolan 4-6 Gerwyn Price
José de Sousa 6-5 Adam Gawlas
Peter Wright 2-6 Michael Smith
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 4-7 Gerwyn Price
José de Sousa 5-7 Michael Smith
Final
Gerwyn Price 8-2 Michael Smith
