Gerwyn Price risks wrath of Luke Littler with actions after sealing Prem play-off spot | Other | Sport

Gerwyn Price has risked poking the bear with a pointed message to Luke Littler ahead of their Premier League Darts showdown. ‘The Iceman’ and ‘The Nuke’ will be the first pair to take to The O2 stage next week as they bid to make the overall final.

And it promises to be an interesting match-up. Price won six consecutive head-to-head battles with Littler before the teenager finally ended his losing streak in April. Both of the last two meetings have gone the way of the reigning world champion, but he may still have hoped to meet a player against whom he has a more favourable record.

Leading up to the clash in London, Littler spoke repeatedly about the importance of finishing top of the regular-season standings so that he would play in the first semi-final, thus giving him more time to recover if he makes it to the final.

Price could have dodged a semi-final meeting with Littler if he tied up third place in Sheffield on Thursday. But he lost 6-5 to Chris Dobey in his opening match and slipped back to fourth behind Nathan Aspinall.

Afterwards, he needled Littler by suggesting he lost to Dobey in order to face him at The O2, and added that he expects to go all the way.

“I just wanna play first next week,” Price wrote on his Instagram story. “Gives me more time to rest for the final [trophy emoji]”.

Price’s confident remarks came on the same night Littler sent a warning in the opposite direction. After defeating Luke Humphries to clinch his sixth nightly win of the season – amassing a record Premier League points total in the process – the youngster said: “Gezzy tonight, if he won, he would have jumped to third. Is that a mistake? Because I’m certainly ready for next week.”

Littler is fancied by many to retain the Premier League title he won 12 months ago after another barnstorming performance in Sheffield. The 18-year-old thrashed Stephen Bunting, outclassed Nathan Aspinall and soundly defeated Humphries to clinch a sixth £10,000 nightly win bonus since the turn of the year.

But Price will be no pushover. The 40-year-old boasts three Grand Slam of Darts titles, two World Series Finals wins, a World Darts Championship, a World Grand Prix and a host of other runner-up finishes, including in the Premier League two years ago.