Iceman Plays it Cool Over Gamesmanship Claim
Gerwyn Price has dismissed talk of gamesmanship before another fiesty battle with Gary Anderson.
The Iceman kept his cool as Ando gave him verbals on stage during their last clash at the Masters in Milton Keynes a fortnight ago.
Anderson, 47, claimed that Price was slow off the oche and in his eyeline as he went to throw. The Scot blasted: “You talk about gamesmanship, he’s one boy who doesn’t play gamesmanship, allegedly. If you can’t beat a man with a bad back then you better go back to the practice board, simple as that.”
Now they face each other in the Unibet Premier League tonight (Thurs) as Price plays on home soil in Cardiff.
Price, 32, hit back, saying: “There’s no problem with me with Gary. There wasn’t any gamesmanship. He didn’t give me any time to get back from retrieving my darts.
“If you look at the TV footage you’ll see he is at the oche and throwing over my shoulder, that wasn’t my fault.
“I always play at the same pace, I don’t slow down or speed up. I certainly didn’t do anything wrong so there’s no problem.
“I’m not interested in any needle or getting under people’s skin. But it’s a selfish game and there’s no friends on the oche. But I certainly don’t need to put people off.
“A few years ago I got dragged into Twitter rows and I won’t do that again. It didn’t help my game and affected my concentration, so there’s no point.
“I’m looking forward to playing in Cardiff, it will be an amazing atmosphere. I got a lot of grief when I played Gary in Glasgow in the World Series in November.
“It will be interesting to see what it’s like in Cardiff. It’s a dream come true for me to play on home soil.”
Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle believes that Anderson should QUIT the Premier League because of his back injury.
Ando lost 7-5 in Dublin to Michael Smith despite leading 5-1 as his back once again gave him serious pain.
Mardle said: “Things with any sport or life in general, if you're under pressure then a little bit of pain becomes a lot of pain.
“He wasn't throwing right last Thursday, he really wasn't. The more pressure Smith applied the worse he got. Before and after the game he wasn't walking right.
“In my opinion, if he was to pull out of the Premier League then I think he will be doing the right thing because he's 47 and he needs to get it sorted. It's a long season and I'm not saying that the Premier League is not important, I'm not. But it's not a ranked event.
“If he's going to pull out of an event, make it now or make it soon so they can make arrangements for a replacement.
“I don't know how bad it is but it's definitely been going on for a while. The back is important in life, forget about your living. I feel for him because he can't play how he wants to play, but I do think he should get it sorted sooner rather than later.”
By Phil Lanning (@lannomedia)
Photography courtesy of Chris Sargeant