Cardiff vibrates whenever Gerwyn Price strides toward the oche and Night Seven of the tour promises an even bigger eruption. The Iceman arrives at the Utilita Arena on March twenty armed with a nine dart finish from Manchester and back to back nightly titles in Dublin and Liverpool. Local fans sense their hero is primed for another memorable homecoming.
Price opens against Rob Cross a repeat of the Cardiff quarter final last year that went to a last leg shootout. He admits that playing in Wales brings a heavier weight of expectation but insists the chorus of his walk on tune makes his heart race rather than his hands shake. A statistical jump from forty four to fifty percent on checkout accuracy during the last month supports that claim.
Should he advance Price could face either Michael van Gerwen or Luke Humphries in the semi final before a possible showdown with Luke Littler in the trophy match. Such a gauntlet would test even his combative persona yet he relishes the chance to claw back ground in the league table where he trails the teenager by six points.
The numbers underline the threat. Price boasts the highest checkout of the campaign at one hundred and sixty seven and his season average sits touching one hundred. His favourite double sixteen lands with metronomic certainty and he tops the first nine dart average leaderboard confirming that legs rarely drift beyond fifteen darts when he is in flow.
Victory on home soil would lift him into the top two and ignite conversation about a first Premier League crown. He told Welsh media this week that lifting the trophy in London would complete his darting bucket list. The road to that dream runs through Cardiff where a deafening national anthem may propel him toward another statement night.
