Dirk van Duijvenbode failed to win the World Grand Prix on Monday evening. The Dutch revelation was unable to stunt Gerwyn Price in the final of the tournament in Coventry: 2-5.
It is the first time that 35-year-old Price has won the World Grand Prix and the fourth time that he has won a PDC television tournament. The Welshman won the World Series of Darts Finals at the end of September and has already won two victories at the Grand Slam of Darts (2018 and 2019).
Reaching the final was already a milestone for debutant Van Duijvenbode. The 28-year-old South Hollander started his first participation in the World Grand Prix with a victory over Mensur Suljovic and then surprisingly also eliminated Dimitri Van den Bergh, Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock.
The last two years the World Grand Prix was won by Michael van Gerwen, but the number one in the world did not get further than the quarterfinals this time, in which he lost 0-3 to Whitlock.
The World Grand Prix is different from regular PDC tournaments in that the darts players have to start each leg with a random double. The tournament was held behind closed doors this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Dirk van Duijvenbode was unable to liven up his historic debut at the World Grand Prix with the title. (Photo: PDC / Lawrence Lustig)
Price lives up to his favorite role
Price started the final as a big favorite and immediately realized that by taking the first set very quickly. In the second company, Van Duijvenbode came along to 2-2, but Price had the longest breath. The Iceman threw out 87 by placing his last arrow almost in the center of the bull’s eye.
Van Duijvenbode kept the tension by taking the third set and also seemed to gain some confidence, but that was not long-lasting. In the fourth set, ‘Titan’ got no further than an average of 59 and did not take a single leg.
In the third leg of the fifth set, Van Duijvenbode needed a lot of arrows to throw a first double at all, but he did finish with a 135 finish, his first finish above 100 in the entire tournament. However, that scoop was not enough for the Dutchman to take the fifth set: 1-4.
Van Duijvenbode benefited from price volatility in the sixth set and seemed to make the final exciting again. He also took the first two legs of the seventh set, but favorite Price fought back in time and decided the final without playing in his favor.
