major events
Price wins the first set against Throw!
Dobi 0-1 Price (Legs 2-3) Price won the first set with a brilliant 11-dart break! He made consistent comaaannnnnnnnnnns with a 180 in his first outing, finishing the darts in the process. An excellent 140 left him on 82 after nine – and he needed only two more for his next outing: Bullseye, D16, COMMANNNNN.
In the context of Dobbie’s quarter-final troubles, this is a brutal start from Price.
Dobi 0-0 Price (leg 2-2) Price Memes in Its First 180; Dobby responded in kind. Dobbie eyes 164, with Price waiting at the top – he gets the first T19 but the second turns into a 3.
13-Darter’s price reached an all-time high and roared ‘COMANNNNNNNNNNN!’ In a familiar manner.
Dobi 0-0 Price (leg 2-1) So far both the players have been quite comfortable with their throws. Dobbe scored his second 180 en route to a 15-darter, which sealed on d8. He needs to make a good start there after his shocking setbacks against Kevin Doates on d16 and d8.
Dobbe 0-0 Price (leg 1-1) Equally comfortable foot for the price, which nails for one 128 12-Darter Doobie miles behind.
Dobi 0-0 Price (leg 1-0) Dobey started the match with a 180, and why not. Price could only respond with 40 and Dobbie maintained a big lead throughout the stage. He pinned D10 for the 14-darter and the price came back to 235.
walk-on
Gerwyn Price was criticized by John MacDonald even before his name was announced. It’s pantomime material, at least for the time being, and he’s delighted when the crowd applauds him once he reaches the stage. I really hope that doesn’t happen. Just let the best player win FFS.
Okay, now it’s time for action. Best of nine sets; Chris will throw first. Game on!
Head-to-head record Price is 14-1 DoobieWhich could be a factor when the game gets tight. The exciting thing for both players, as they just said in their pre-match interviews, is that they are nowhere near their best so far. Today is the day to take everything out of the tank. (And tomorrow, and Friday if everything goes according to plan.)
Dobe has won the bull and will throw firstThat could be important. I know Dobie came from behind to defeat Josh Rock and Kevin Doates but Price could be a particularly dangerous contender.
dobby vs price
This is a great contest between two heavy scorers. The work of both of them is incomplete in Eli Palli. The Dobies have been beaten painfully in the quarter-finals in the last two years: 5-0 by Michael van Gerwen in 2022-23 and then, worse, 5-0 by Rob Cross last year after leading 4-0. From 4.
Price was champion in 2020-21 – but it’s no coincidence that it was during Covid and Alexandra Palace was empty. Price’s hateful relationship with the crowd reached its peak when he began wearing headphones mid-match during a quarterfinal loss to Gabriel Clemence two years ago. Although nowhere near his spectacular best of 2019-21, he has played well this year and has beaten some tough opponents like Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton.
You can count on both to score heavily, so this will come down to doubling, which has been a problem for Dobbe (31 percent) and Price (34 percent) throughout the tournament. Dobby has missed 45 darts in the double in his last 16 wins over Kevin Doyles. But he won, so he’s doing something right. It must be a cracker.
Preface
Happy New Year one and all. What better way to start 2025 than quarter-final day at Ally Pally? It’s always a good sign when you can claim one of the four games of the day; The fact that Michael van Gerwen is playing an afternoon game at Worlds for the first time since December 2013 speaks volumes. Well, this paragraph speaks volumes, but it’s still telling.
For darts fans – thoughts on this blah blah blah with non-darts fans – today is going to be long, hard and consistently rewarding. Here’s the line up.
Afternoon session (starts around 12.45pm)
Evening session (about 7.15 pm)