Gerwyn Price beats Dirk van Duijvenbode in deciding leg to win World Series
Gerwyn Price held his nerve in a last-leg decider against Dirk van Duijvenbode to win the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.
Price nudged 4-2 ahead after the first break of throw in Sunday’s final but the world number one then lost three legs in a row to his Dutch opponent, to the delight of a partisan crowd.
Three ton-plus finishes in the space of four legs lifted Price into a 9-8 lead although Van Duijvenbode hit back with an 11-dart leg before moving 10-9 ahead and on the brink of his first major win.
But Price, the 2020 champion, levelled matters and then claimed victory with a 14-dart leg, taking out 90 to seal an 11-10 victory as he finished with a 100.14 average in the showpiece.
Price, who defeated Joe Cullen 10-8 in the quarter-final and James Wade 11-9 in the semis earlier in the day, said on www.pdc.tv: “I’m thrilled to get over the line.
“Dirk played fantastic but I think I played a little bit better. I made it really difficult for myself. There were two or three legs where I missed doubles, I probably could have been 7-3 up.
“I knew from there on in it was going to be a tough battle. But I dug in there right until the end. I gave myself a chance in the last-leg decider and scraped over the line.
“I’ve got a little bit more composure and experience than Dirk had in that leg and that’s all that counted.”
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