01 January 2023 , 12:37
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Wayne Mardle has backed Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price to fight it out for the World Darts Championship title.
The last-eight of the tournament gets underway today at Ally Pally with both players headlining the evening session. World No.1 Price faces Gabriel Clemens while three-time champion Van Gerwen takes on Chris Dobey.
Two-time runner up Michael Smith is also one to watch among the headline acts on New Year’s Day. Despite both Price and Van Gerwen facing tricky ties, former player - now Sky Sports pundit - Mardle has backed the pair to battle it out in the final although he insisted the world’s top ranked player will have to up his game.
He told Sky Sports : “I predicted a Price vs Van Gerwen final at the start, but Gerwyn knows he will have to play better.
“Gabriel will push him, but I assume Gerwyn will respond. I will assume that until he doesn’t.”
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Welshman Price recently hit the headlines following the controversy surrounding an offensive gesture during his last match against Jose de Sousa. He sailed through with a 4-1 win but apologised for “any distress caused” by the gesture that some construed to be mocking the disabled.
Gerwyn Price face Gabriel Clemens in the quarter-finals at Ally Pally (PA)Three-time champion Van Gerwen, meanwhile, is in confident spirits ahead of tonight’s quarter-final tie as he declared: “It will take something strange to stop me.”
Those bullish words came after his own 4-1 victory in the last-16 against Dirk van Duijvenbode where he was adamant that if he plays to his full potential then it will see him through to a title victory.
He said after his last-16 triumph: “I didn't play well at all, but we are both Dutch and I didn't want to read the papers tomorrow saying I'd been kicked out by Dirk. I didn't want that. If I play like this and I feel comfortable, I'm not going to lose. It will take something strange to stop me.
Van Gerwen is confident in his ability (Getty Images)“In the last couple of years, Covid didn't help me, I had a wrist injury and sometimes you can have a dip in form. But I won the World Matchplay three weeks after surgery and I didn't even know if I was going to play.”
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Dimitri Van den Burgh faces Jonny Clayton, while the aforementioned Smith faces Stephen Bunting. Both ties take place in the afternoon session.