PDC World Darts Championship quarter-finals: Chris Dobey v Gerwyn Price – live

4 days ago 6

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Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 2-1) So far both players have been very comfortable on their own throw. Dobey hits his second 180 en route to a 15-darter, sealed on D8. He needs to start well down there after a shocker on D16 and D8 against Kevin Doets.

Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 1-1) An equally comfortable leg for Price, who nails 128 for a 12-darter with Dobey miles behind.

Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 1-0) Dobey starts the match with a 180, and why not. Price can only respond with 40 and Dobey maintains a big lead throughout the leg. He pins D10 for a 14-darter with Price back on 235.

The walk-ons

Gerwyn Price is booed even before his name is announced by John McDonald. It’s pantomime stuff, at least for the time being, and he is cheered when he applauds the crowd after reaching the stage. I really hope this doesn’t descend. Just let the best player win FFS.

Right, it’s time for action. Best of nine sets; Chris will throw first. Game on!

The head-to-head record is Price 14-1 Dobey, which might be a factor if the game gets tight. The exciting thing for both players, as they have just said in their pre-match interviews, is that they’ve been nowhere near their best so far. Today’s the day to extract everything from the tank. (And tomorrow, and Friday if all goes to plan.)

Dobey has won the bull and will throw first. That could be important. I know Dobey came from behind to beat Josh Rock and Kevin Doets but Price can be a particularly fearsome front-runner.

Dobey v Price

This is a cracking hors d’oeuvre between two heavy scorers. Both have unfinished business at Ally Pally. Dobey has been beaten traumatically in the quarter-finals in the last tw0 years: 5-0 by Michael van Gerwen in 2022-23 and then, even worse, 5-4 by Rob Cross last year after being 4-0 ahead.

Price was champion in 2020-21 – but it’s no coincidence that this was during Covid and Alexandra Palace was empty. Price’s hate-hate relationship with the crowd peaked when he started wearing headphones mid-match during a quarter-final defeat to Gabriel Clemens two years ago. Though nowhere near his awesome best of 2019-21, he has played well this year and eliminated some really tough opponents in Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton.

You can rely on both to score heavily so it will come down to doubles, which have been a problem for Dobey (31 per cent) and Price (34 per cent) all tournament. Dobey missed 45 darts at double in his last 16 win over Kevin Doets. But he won, so he’s doing something right. This should be a cracker.

Preamble

Happy new year one and all. What better way to start 2025 than with quarter-final day at Ally Pally? It’s always a good sign when you can make a case for any of the four games being the match of the day; the fact Michael van Gerwen is playing an afternoon game at the Worlds for the first time since December 2013 speaks volumes. Okay, it speaks paragraphs, but it’s still telling.

For darts fans – thoughts with non-darts fans at this blah blah blah – today is going to be long, gruelling and ceaselessly rewarding. Here’s the line up.

Afternoon session (starts around 12.45pm)