Gerwyn Price surged up to second in the Premier League table with a sensational Night Nine triumph in Manchester last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price produced a hat-trick of terrific displays to prevail at the AO Arena, recording 6-2 victories over Luke Humphries, Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen to seal his second nightly win of the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Welshman kicked off his quarter-final clash against Humphries with successive 167 and 135 checkouts, which set the tone for a memorable night in the North West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price averaged 104.47 in overcoming reigning champion Humphries, before delivering the performance of the tournament so far in his semi-final showdown against Bunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 41-year-old averaged 112.91 and converted a roof-raising 170 combination to topple the Liverpudlian, who averaged over 106 in defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price \u2013 also a winner on Night Two in Antwerp \u2013 was equally imperious in Thursday’s final, landing a brace of 128 checkouts en route to establishing a commanding 4-0 cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen responded with successive holds to halt Price’s charge, although the former World Champion maintained his merciless march to victory, sealing the title with a 105.84 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was chasing two points first and foremost in my first game against Luke,”\u00a0reflected Price, who leapfrogs his World Cup partner Jonny Clayton into second spot on legs difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a tough game. I started off with two big checkouts which settled me into the game, and then I played really well against Stephen, who I also thought played well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I don’t think Gian was really on his game in the final, but you just feel sometimes that you can’t miss, and that’s how it felt tonight.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen’s appearance in a fourth nightly final of 2026 saw him move to within a point of the Play-Off positions, as the European Champion returned to winning ways in Manchester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 23-year-old was without a win since Night Four in Belfast, but he snapped that streak with a dramatic deciding-leg victory over Luke Littler in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen backed up his victory over Littler with a 6-3 success against Josh Rock, conjuring up a magnificent 160 finish to leave the AO Arena with three points to his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the night, Rock recorded his second straight victory over Clayton to seal his spot in the semi-finals, defying a 107.44 average from the Welshman to run out a 6-4 winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the evening’s other quarter-final, Bunting defied a stirring fightback from Michael van Gerwen to close out a 6-3 victory, despite a 104 average from the Dutchman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler remains two points clear at the top of the table despite his early exit on home soil, with Price, Clayton and Van Gerwen occupying the top four positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen has leapfrogged Humphries into fifth spot, with Bunting and Rock sat in seventh and eighth place respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Brighton Centre plays host to Night Ten next Thursday, as Price begins his bid for back-to-back nightly wins against Rock, while Van Gerwen and Van Veen collide in an all-Dutch affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries and Clayton go head-to-head in the evening’s opener, whilst Littler aims to return to winning ways against Bunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ranking points are awarded per night – with five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the semi-finalists – to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28. Semi-Finals<\/strong>: Gerwyn Price 6-2 Stephen Bunting; Gian van Veen 6-3 Josh Rock Gerwyn Price surged up to second in the Premier League table with a sensational Night Nine triumph in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-11186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Quarter-Finals: <\/strong>Stephen Bunting 6-3 Michael van Gerwen; Gerwyn Price 6-2 Luke Humphries; Gian van Veen 6-5 Luke Littler; Josh Rock 6-4 Jonny Clayton<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Final<\/strong>: Gerwyn Price 6-2 Gian van Veen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"