Gerwyn Price: Previous Form Goes Out Of The Window On Finals Night
The Premier League Darts Finals Night takes place on Thursday and teenage sensation Luke Littler is favourite with betting sites to defend his title at the O2 Arena in London.
The 18-year-old won the title last year after being invited as one of four wildcards following his shock run at the 2024 World Darts Championship.
Littler won four nights in his maiden campaign before defeating Michael Smith in the semi-finals and clinching the title with an 11-7 win over Luke Humphries.
‘The Nuke’ is reigning world champion and won the UK Open this year, placing him second in the PDC Order of Merit.
However, he faces a tough challenge to retain his crown and plays 2021 PDC World Champion Gerwyn Price in the semi-final, who spoke exclusively to Gambling.com ahead of the big night and his defence of the Mr Vegas Nordic Darts Masters next month.
Past Form Goes Out The Window
Littler is bidding to become the third player to win back-to-back Premier League titles, with Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen the only others to achieve the feat.
He will play 2023 runner-up Price in Thursday’s opening semi-final, as the Welshman embarks on his second play-off appearance.
But despite the teenager’s record-breaking exploits , Price is very much focusing on what he has to do.
"It's only one night, so previous form goes out of the window," he said.
"For me it's just about concentrating on my own game. It doesn't matter who I'm playing. I think that's probably what my my strength is. I just go on stage and play my own game and don't really focus on the other player too much.
"I'm definitely a lot more positive when I'm on stage, so I feel like I can fully focus on a much better finishing position this year than where I have been in previous years. You need to turn up and perform well if you want to pick up that trophy.
"I've won most ranking events and I've been in the final of every single major. I will concentrate on the Finals Night on Thursday and then I might be able to get that ticked off."
Nine-Darter A Great Moment
Price has enjoyed a welcome return to form in this year’s Premier League.
He secured a hat-trick of nightly victories, while also landing nine-dart finishes in Manchester and Aberdeen.
His first nine-darter of the campaign came against Littler on Night 10, something which he still looks back on fondly as the pair prepare to face each other in London.
"It was a great moment in my career to hit nine-darters especially in the Premier League and especially this year," he said.
"The crowd has been great with me and showed me some great support.
"So to reward them with nine-darters, watch them celebrate, to get beer chucked everywhere and the roar of the last three darts going in feels really good."
Not All About The Two Lukes
Thursday's second semi-final will see world number one Humphries and 2020 runner-up Nathan Aspinall go head-to-head, with both men chasing maiden Premier League success.
Humphries’ haul of nightly wins in Belfast, Exeter and Leeds guided him to a second-place finish for the second straight year, and now he’s aiming to improve upon his run to the final 12 months ago.
The 30-year-old was beaten by an inspired Littler in last year’s showpiece, and many will be looking forward to a rematch on Thursday, but Price feels it's not all about the two Lukes.
"There was talk at the beginning of the year that me and Nathan didn't even deserve to be in the Premier League," he said.
"That was probably deserved due to the way that me and Nathan were playing.
"But the two that probably didn't deserve to be there, according to other people, are the two that are in the finals night."
No Need For Needle
Price and Aspinall will be doing everything they can to stop Littler and Humphries meeting in another huge final.
It has quickly shaped into a rivalry where every match has meaning, with records on the line that will continue to matter over the coming years.
But Price believes there is no need to add any more hype to what could be one of the sport's greatest battles.
"I don't think I would like to see more needle [between the two], but I'm sure the media would," he said.
"We all get on in the practice room and offstage.
"But when we're up on stage there are no friends in darts."
