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Markham’s world number one Gerwyn Price survived an early scare to secure his place in round three at the Cazoo World Darts Championship on Monday.
Price, who lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy in 2021, relinquished the opening set against an impressive Luke Woodhouse, but the top seed turned on the style in the closing stages to confirm his post-Christmas return.
Woodhouse – who defeated Ukrainian history-maker Vladyslav Omelchenko in his opener on Sunday – made a blistering start and registered legs of 15, 14 and 15 darts to seal the opening set with a 104 average.
However, the Welshman restored parity at one set apiece with a clinical 83 outshot in a second-set decider, before capitalising on key misses from Woodhouse in set three to seize the initiative.
Price won six of the last seven legs to keep his bid for a second World Championship crown alive, converting a 76 finish on the bull and taking out a superb 150 checkout in the final set to prevail.
“I put myself under a lot of pressure. I’m defending a lot of ranking points and I really needed to get through this game,” reflected Price, who averaged 92, landed two 180s and hit 34% of his attempts at double.
“Regardless of the performance, I’m glad I came through that because I’m sure I will improve throughout the rest of the tournament.
“I was really nervous and I wanted to have a good start. Sometimes you try too hard, and towards the end of the game I began to play a little bit better.”
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