GERWYN PRICE zal zijn Betway World Cup of Darts debuut gaan maken als hij dit weekend uitkomt voor Wales. (...)
Doordat Price de afgelopen twee jaar erg snel gestegen is op de wereldranglijst, is hij daardoor nu voorbij Jamie Lewis gestegen. Dit betekent dat hij samen met de nummer één van Wales, Mark Webster, mag uitkomen voor zijn land.
Price heeft onlangs twee Players Championship toernooien gewonnen en is daarmee tot de 25e plek gekomen in de wereldranglijst.
Price zei: "Over the past 12 months, this has probably been my main target, obviously I wanted to get into all the other TV events, but I've been trying to catch Jamie and Mark in the last year and thankfully I've pushed in front of Jamie and done it.
"My form's been a little bit up and down recently to be honest. I've won two Players Championship events, but in the last few stage events I've not done very well.
"Hopefully I can take my form off the floor and get back into gear, but it's difficult taking it from the floor to the stage."
In de Betway World Cup of Darts zal Price voor de eerste keer meedoen aan een professioneel koppeltoernooi. Hij gooit samen met Mark Webster die tot nu toe elk jaar is uitgekomen voor Wales.
"It's a lot different, when you're playing for yourself, the only person you're upsetting is yourself, but now I'm not just playing for myself, I'm playing for Mark and for the whole of Wales so there is a little bit more added pressure.
"I'm not sure how it's going to go or how it's going to feel, but I'm sure I'll do alright. I spoke to Mark leading up to the selection and he said that the hardest part is getting through the first game, which is just Pairs.
"Once you're into the tournament you start to play Singles matches, but the first game will be tough.
"We're playing Finland, and it's like playing against a slow player because you're every fourth throw and it's hard to get a bit of rhythm. I'm sure we'll get through the first round and then hopefully we'll improve from there.
"Mark's got experience and he's the number one and captain of Wales and I'm sure I'll work pretty well with him.
"I'm just looking forward to getting out there, putting the Welsh shirt on and seeing what happens. I'm sure he'll perform well and give me some advice.
"We've not practised together yet because he lives quite far from me in north Wales but we'll meet up when I get to Germany and have a practice then.
"We play with the likes of Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson week-in, week-out and they're beatable, and a Pairs tournament is different as well,
"Mark and myself have been playing well and I've looked at the way the draw can work out and I think we can get to the semi-finals and possibly play England - but there's going to be some tough games leading up to that.
"If we can do that we can try and put some pressure on England then in the semi-finals and see what happens.''
Darts is voor Price de derde sport waarin hij zijn land zal gaan vertegenwoordigen. Eerder deed hij dit al voor Rugby Union en Rugby League.
"I played for Wales from when I was 17 in the Under-17s Development Squad, the Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s,
"The only thing I missed out on was the full international, which was a pity, but I won the Grand Slam a couple of times with the younger ages and there was a lot of pride in that.
"I think my main goal from when I was younger was to play rugby and to play in the Millennium Stadium against England in the Six Nations. It's a little bit different now in darts but I'm over the moon to be in the World Cup and I'm chuffed to bits.
"I played at amateur level for Wales at rugby league too, and it's nice to do it in darts now."
De Betway World Cup of Darts zal plaatsvinden van 2 tot 5 juni in de Eissporthalle in Frankfurt.