Key events
Dobey 4-2 Price (legs 2-2) Dobey doesn’t get a shot from 130, allowing Price to return on 95 with a chance to save the match. He misses T19, hitting T7 instead, but he pulls it out of the fire with T18 and a superb D10. Now then.
Dobey holds! Dobey 4-2 Price (legs 2-1) Dobey has been so smooth in the last few sets. He keeps scoring on the heavy side of consistent to leave 40 after 12 on his sown throw. Price is back on 160 when Dobey returns to hit tops first dart.
Dobey needs one more leg to exorcise the demons of New Year’s Day 2024.
Price holds! Dobey 4-2 Price (legs 1-1) Price celebrates sarcastically after hitting his first 180 since the second set. But even with Dobey back on 220, Price misses three at his favourite D12. This is an astonishing collapse on the outer ring. He finally gets the job done on D3, flexes his guns to the crowd and is booed heartily for the first time this afternoon. Maybe the booing will work in his favour for once.
Dobey 4-2 Price (legs 1-0) The crowd are on Dobey’s side but, unlike in previous years, they haven’t been particularly unfair to Price. He has just fallen apart on the doubles, a recurring problem in recent years.
Dobey starts set seven with a 12-dart hold, his sixth leg on the spin; he needs two more to reach his first World Championship semi-final.
Dobey comes from 2-0 down to lead 4-2!
Dobey breaks again! Dobey 4-2 Price (legs 3-0) Price roars after starting with 134, an attempt to get himself going. Was it Corey Cadby he played in that hilarious game of oneupmanship, in which they were celebrating 60s at one stage?
Price has one darts at tops to hold with Dobey waiting on 30 for a break. He misses, of course he does, and Dobey hits D15 first up for a rapid set victory against the darts. He’s won four sets in a row and is throwing for the match!
Dobey 3-2 Price (legs 2-0) Dobey misses the bull for 167. Price can only leave 112 from 170, and Dobey is up to hit D8 for his fourth straight leg. Gerwyn Price is in all sorts.
Dobey breaks! Dobey 3-2 Price (legs 1-0) As frustrated as Price will be, the match is still on throw. But Price is an open book and he is starting to look haunted by the ghosts of Ally Pally past. He needs a big moment, a huge finish or some such, to reverse the momentum – because he is in all sorts of trouble.
Price misses eight darts at double, some by a distance, and is broken by Dobey, who missed four himself. That mildly shambolic leg might just be the most important of the match.
Fifth set stats
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Average Dobey 98.16, Price 93.57
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Doubles Dobey 37.5, Price 25%
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180s Dobey 2-0 Price
Dobey wins the fifth set!
Dobey holds! Dobey 3-2 Price (legs 3-2) A lesser-spotted hold, the first of the set, gives Chris Dobey a 3-2 lead! He totally outscored Price in the deciding leg and had time to return after missing D10 on the inside. He hit D5 with his second dart to go ahead in sets for the first time. For Price, it’s all down to those pesky doubles.
Dobey breaks back again! Dobey 2-2 Price (legs 2-2) “A break is only a break if you hold,” says John Part, and Price is really struggling to do that.
Both men are down to 170 – but Dobey is first there, against the darts, and misses the bull for the big fish. No matter: he returns to complete a 14-darter and will now throw for the set!
Price breaks again! Dobey 2-2 Price (legs 1-2) Price’s scoring remains outstanding. A 171 leaves him on 100 after nine against the darts, and this time he hits tops for a superb 11-dart break. That’s despite Dobey hitting two 180s in the leg, on his own throw.
Dobey breaks back! Dobey 2-2 Price (legs 1-1) Dobey can’t get a shot from 120 for a break. Price returns on 35, misses his beloved D12 by a mile – and then misses D6 as well. This is turning into a huge problem for Price, and Dobey punishes him on D10.
In the last two sets Price has hit only 3 out of 16 doubles.
Price breaks! Dobey 2-2 Price (legs 0-1) More double woes for Price, who leaves 40 after 12 and then misses D20, D10 and D5.
Dobey can’t take out 90 on the bull, so Price returns and eventually wins the leg – a break, lest we forget – on D1. There is no celebration, barely even an acknowledgement.
Price blew a two-set lead against Jonny Clayton and a three-set lead against Joe Cullen before coming again to win both games. Dobey has come from behind against Josh Rock and Kevin Doets. In short, it’s anyone’s game, and they’re back on stage. Dobey has the throw in this fifth set.
Price’s doubles are again becoming a problem. He hit 100 per cent in the first set, but since then he’s down to 25 per cent, six out of 24. Overall Dobey is at 47 per cent to Price’s 33. The averages show that Price is scoring more consistently:
Dobey breaks to win the fourth set!
Dobey 2-2 Price (legs 3-2) You could cut the tension with a serrated cliche. After 12 darts it’s Price 88, Dobey 76. Price hits 20 and T18 to leave D7 for the set. He misses by a mile and now Dobey has one at tops. This is the chance… and he gets it!
Dobey, usually, so undemonstrative, yelps with angry delight. That’s a mighty finish, last dart in hand.
Dobey 1-2 Price (legs 2-2) Those missed chances in the first leg of this set have hurt Dobey, whose scoring has regressed a little. But he whacks in a bullseye to hold crucially with Price waiting on 76!
This is a huge deciding leg: 2-2 or 1-3, nothing inbetween.
Dobey 1-2 Price (legs 1-2) A comfortable hold – 15 darts, Dobey back on 188 – takes Price to within a leg of a 3-1 lead.
Dobey 1-2 Price (legs 1-1) This pace of this game is dizzying, the scoring part anyway. Both players miss the bull for a 12-darter, then miss two at double on their next visit. Dobey holds crucially on double 2.
In this set they’ve hit 2/13 on the doubles between them.
Dobey 1-2 Price (legs 0-1) This is a really good spell for Dobey, who takes control on the Price throw at the start of the fourth set. He leaves 30 after 12, with Price on 112. Price has one dart at tops but pulls it slightly low.
Dobey gives him another chance by missing D15 on the inside and then D4. This is getting very nervy on the doubles. Price recovers from a missed dart at D10 and a bounce out (though it wasn’t going in and might have done him a favour) to hit D10 with his last dart. That’s the cue for the biggest COMANNNNNNNNNN yet. Last-dart-in-hand doubles are a window into the soul of a darts player; Price is hitting plenty today.
Dobey wins the third set!
Dobey breaks! Dobey 1-2 Price (legs 3-1) If Price holds, the set will go to a decider and Dobey will be under all sorts of pressure. Price starts with four perfect darts; Dobey responds with a 180 and after nine darts both players are on a finish: Price 85, Dobey 107.
Price doesn’t even get a shot at the bull. Dobey gets one dart at D14 – and he hits it for a set-sealing break. That was much more like it from Dobey, who averaged 113 in the third set. Price averaged 105 so it’s not like he dropped off.
Dobey 0-2 Price (legs 2-1) Dobey’s scoring has been much better since the second break. He hits another 180, his sixth of the match, and is down to a double after 10 darts. Dobey misses two at D14 but Price is miles back so he can return for a 13-darter.
Dobey 0-2 Price (legs 1-1) Dobey starts with a 180 against the darts but Price’s consistency keeps him at arm’s length. After 12 darts Price is on 40, Dobey 42. Price misses D20, then D10 – but he growls with delight after pinning D5.
Dobey 0-2 Price (legs 1-0) This is the dictionary definition of a must-win set for Dobey, who has the throw. Price puts him under serious pressure by leaving 36 after 12; Dobey is up to it and hits D10, last dart in hand, to take out 80. Sheesh he needed that.
The averages so far
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Overall Dobey 93.10-99.89 Price
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First set Dobey 96.53-103.10 Price
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Second set Dobey 89.66-96.77 Price
Price takes the second set
Price breaks! Dobey 0-2 Price (legs 1-3) Dobey’s scoring hasn’t been up to his usual standard, with too many 59s and 100s. Price misses the bull for a 130, which would have given him the set, but Dobey can’t set up from 110.
Price decides to split 38. Good decision: he hits D14 with his first attempt to rush into a two-set lead. He’s won five of the last six legs, and he missed four darts for the sixth.
Doubles percentage so far Dobey 60-38 Price.
Dobey 0-1 Price (legs 1-2) That will worry Price because doubles have been his biggest problem at this tournament, and in the last few years. More heavy scoring gives him plenty of time on his own throw – and he needs it. After missing three, he returns to hit D10 with Dobey back on 125.
Dobey 0-1 Price (legs 1-1) Another 180, his fourth in as many legs, gives Price control of the leg against the darts. But for the first time he starts playing silly buggers on the doubles, missing four all round the board, and Dobey holds on D12. That was a steal.
Dobey 0-1 Price (legs 0-1) Price holds throw at the start of the second set. He left tops after 12, and though Dobey hit a 180 to leave D1, Price pinned tops at the second attempt. He’s flying here.
Price wins the first set against the throw!
Dobey 0-1 Price (legs 2-3) Price steals the first set with a majestic 11-dart break! He made it back-to-back COMAAANNNNNNNNNS with a 180 on his first visit, nicking the darts in the process. An excellent 140 left him on 82 after nine – and he needed only two more on his next visit: bullseye, D16, COMANNNNNN.
In the context of Dobey’s quarter-final woes, that’s a brutal start from Price.
Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 2-2) Price rams in his first 180; Dobey responds in kind. Dobey has a look at 164, with Price waiting on tops – he gets the first T19 but the second deflects into the 3.
Price hits tops for a 13-darter and roars ‘COMANNNNNNNNNNN!’ in the familiar style.
Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 2-1) So far both players have been very comfortable on their own throw. Dobey hits his second 180 en route to a 15-darter, sealed on D8. He needs to start well down there after a shocker on D16 and D8 against Kevin Doets.
Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 1-1) An equally comfortable leg for Price, who nails 128 for a 12-darter with Dobey miles behind.
Dobey 0-0 Price (legs 1-0) Dobey starts the match with a 180, and why not. Price can only respond with 40 and Dobey maintains a big lead throughout the leg. He pins D10 for a 14-darter with Price back on 235.
The walk-ons
Gerwyn Price is booed even before his name is announced by John McDonald. It’s pantomime stuff, at least for the time being, and he is cheered when he applauds the crowd after reaching the stage. I really hope this doesn’t descend. Just let the best player win FFS.
Right, it’s time for action. Best of nine sets; Chris will throw first. Game on!
The head-to-head record is Price 14-1 Dobey, which might be a factor if the game gets tight. The exciting thing for both players, as they have just said in their pre-match interviews, is that they’ve been nowhere near their best so far. Today’s the day to extract everything from the tank. (And tomorrow, and Friday if all goes to plan.)
Dobey has won the bull and will throw first. That could be important. I know Dobey came from behind to beat Josh Rock and Kevin Doets but Price can be a particularly fearsome front-runner.
Dobey v Price
This is a cracking hors d’oeuvre between two heavy scorers. Both have unfinished business at Ally Pally. Dobey has been beaten traumatically in the quarter-finals in the last tw0 years: 5-0 by Michael van Gerwen in 2022-23 and then, even worse, 5-4 by Rob Cross last year after being 4-0 ahead.
Price was champion in 2020-21 – but it’s no coincidence that this was during Covid and Alexandra Palace was empty. Price’s hate-hate relationship with the crowd peaked when he started wearing headphones mid-match during a quarter-final defeat to Gabriel Clemens two years ago. Though nowhere near his awesome best of 2019-21, he has played well this year and eliminated some really tough opponents in Joe Cullen and Jonny Clayton.
You can rely on both to score heavily so it will come down to doubles, which have been a problem for Dobey (31 per cent) and Price (34 per cent) all tournament. Dobey missed 45 darts at double in his last 16 win over Kevin Doets. But he won, so he’s doing something right. This should be a cracker.
Preamble
Happy new year one and all. What better way to start 2025 than with quarter-final day at Ally Pally? It’s always a good sign when you can make a case for any of the four games being the match of the day; the fact Michael van Gerwen is playing an afternoon game at the Worlds for the first time since December 2013 speaks volumes. Okay, it speaks paragraphs, but it’s still telling.
For darts fans – thoughts with non-darts fans at this blah blah blah – today is going to be long, gruelling and ceaselessly rewarding. Here’s the line up.
Afternoon session (starts around 12.45pm)
Evening session (around 7.15pm)
