Gerwyn Price defied a spectacular fightback from Josh Rock to clinch his third PDC ranking title of 2025 in Leicester on Tuesday.
Price withstood a blistering barrage from Rock to triumph in a pulsating Players Championship 12 final, despite an average of 110.7 from the Northern Irishman.
Rock recovered from 4-0 and 7-4 adrift to force a last-leg decider, but Price maintained his composure in the decider to prevail with a 14-dart hold of throw.
“Josh played fantastic darts to come back, but luckily I got a big lead otherwise he would have blown me away,” conceded the Welshman.
“I didn’t perform that well on the outside boards today, but I played really well on the streaming boards.
“I felt a little bit more comfortable and just seemed to zone in, and this will give me a boost going into the Premier League tomorrow.
“It doesn’t matter how well you’re playing, when you’re winning tournaments, it gives you great confidence going forward.”
Price performed superbly to pocket the £15,000 top prize at the Mattioli Arena, boasting a tournament average of 100.6 across his seven matches.
The 40-year-old opened his challenge with a ton-plus average in toppling Darius Labanauskas, before winning through hard-fought encounters against Adam Lipscombe and Matthew Dennant.
Following his fourth round win over Mario Vandenbogaerde, Price then moved through to Wednesday’s showpiece with irresistible displays against Jonny Clayton and Ian White respectively.
Price averaged 112.2 to dispatch his compatriot Clayton 6-1 in the last eight, while a 110.8 average saw him sweep aside White 7-2 in a repeat of last week’s Players Championship Nine decider.
The Welshman raced into a 4-0 lead against Rock, and although the 23-year-old won four of the next five legs to hit back, Price responded with back-to-back legs to regain control at 7-4.
Rock then reeled off three straight legs in 12, 11 and 12 darts to set up a grandstand finish, but Price held firm to become the first player to win a hat-trick of PDC ranking titles this season.
Despite missing out on a second Players Championship crown of the campaign, Rock was outstanding throughout the afternoon’s play, achieving perfection in his third round win over Matt Campbell.
The former World Youth Champion came agonisingly close to repeating the feat against Price, missing double 12 for his second nine-darter of the day in the closing stages of Wednesday’s final.
Rock earlier averaged 108 in his quarter-final victory over Gary Anderson, while also accounting for Dutch duo Danny Noppert and Gian van Veen on his way to claiming the £10,000 runner-up prize.
Van Veen maintained his sparkling start to 2025 to reach his fourth ProTour semi-final of the campaign, having kicked off his title bid with back-to-back ton-plus averages.
Stoke-on-Trent veteran White also continued his resurgence in the East Midlands, defeating James Wade, Daryl Gurney, Alan Soutar and Luke Woodhouse in his run to the last four.
Woodhouse was joined in the quarter-finals by Ritchie Edhouse, who edged out World Champion Luke Littler in the last 16, as Clayton and Anderson completed the last eight line-up.