Gerwyn Price’s comments after beating Luke Littler 8-1 speaks volumes
Gerwyn Price was a worthy winner of the Australian Darts Masters after dismantling Luke Littler 8-1 in the final.
Gerwyn Price admitted the prospect of taking on Luke Littler propelled him to trash the teenager in the Australian Darts Masters final. The Welshman claimed his his second World Series title of 2024 following his triumph at the Nordic Darts Masters after demolishing the 17-year-old 8-1 on Saturday (August 10).
The Iceman - who defeated Peter Wright 7-6 in the semi-final - raced to a dominating 5-0 lead over the teenage sensation who then won his only leg of the contest before Price finished up the one-sided tie to inflict one of the more damaging defeats of Littler's young career thus far.
The 39-year-old was in tremendous form in Wollongong where he achieved a 99.42 average and checkout percentage of 53.3% in the final compared to Littler's below-par average of 94.24 and checkout percentage of a disappointing 8.3%. Speaking after the final, Price had some telling comments on what drove him to display such a dominant performance against the reigning Premier League champion.
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The 2021 PDC World Championship winner admitted the hype that comes along with taking on Littler contributed to his added motivation in the final. Speaking to Online Darts, he said: "Probably just playing Luke, I know I need to get myself up, get myself ready for the game.
"I probably haven’t done that over the last couple of weeks and months, I just haven’t been able to motivate myself." Price pointed out what he specifically did during the game to weaken Littler's performance as he explained: "When you put him [Littler] under constant pressure, he starts missing a couple of doubles, maybe one or two legs could’ve gone his way.
"I just kept the pressure on him and when you miss those doubles, which I’ve done in the past and it’s cost me matches, but it doesn’t matter if it’s 8-1, 8-7, 8-0, as long as I get a win."
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While Littler has enjoyed a stellar 2024 that began with a remarkable run to the final of the World Championship, as well as enjoying six tournament wins on top of winning the Premier League in May, the form of the Runcorn-born player has recently dipped after a shock first-round exit at the World Matchplay in Blackpool last month.
After his defeat, Littler called out the treatment he receives when losing a match, suggesting it's disproportionate compared to other players on the tour. "It’s just crazy, I lose a game and it’s not like my opponent wins it, it’s me out the tournament, but that’s what happens when it’s me," he said.
Littler praised Price's showing in the final but admitted his struggle to adapt to the sleeping pattern in Australia as he added: "I couldn’t keep up with him. It just didn’t happen and he didn’t miss much. It’s been hard getting used to the sleeping pattern but no excuses I was terrible [in the final].
