Gerwyn Price posts statement to confirm retirement decision after months of poor form

It's been a season and a year to forget for Gerwyn Price, leading many to believe the controversial Welshman could be ready to retire from the oche for good

Gerwyn Price has confirmed to darts fans that he will not be leaving the oche any time soon.

Price, 39, has endured a season to forget having not reached the final of any televised events. The Iceman's failure to do that saw him miss out on an automatic spot in his beloved Grand Slam of darts competition, which he won in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Things were made even worse when he was knocked out in the qualifying round by World No.56 Mickey Mansell. This stunning failure encapsulates a poor year which had already seen him finish second from bottom in the Premier League and be knocked out by Brendan Dolan in the third round of the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship.

Many have tipped the often fiery Welshman to retire from the sport. In response, he took to his 305,000 followers on Instagram to confirm his intentions in a lengthy story.

He wrote: "When the last 10 years have been constant travelling, darts or down time with the family, you lose touch with everything else going on around you without even knowing it.

"Now, there's no darts, it's like trying to fill a void. I finally realise my life is darts and without it, I don't know what to do with myself. Fortunately, or unfortunately for some, you're all stuck with me."

Price's story was an explosive, rallying call that goes against what many were saying about him. Now he is not in the Grand Slam of Darts, Price's next competition will be the Players Championship.

He has been drawn to face Thibault Tricole of France in the opening round on November 22. All eyes will be on the Iceman to see how he can react and motivate himself as the season comes to a close.

Former world champion Priestley was one of many darts pundits who thought Price's career was in its twilight years. Priestley told OLBG: "It could be getting to him that he has to fight to win games in the first round of tournaments now.

"You just knew he'd be in and around the final most of the time back in 2020. His competitive spirit keeps getting knocked down and he's having to play in qualifiers and eliminators now which aren't easy."

Priestley added: "Given Gerwyn Price's previous retirement hints, the World Championships could quite possibly be his last in darts. It's all down to his will and his attitude, but it's not looking good.

"When he has those battles with the crowds, it either gets to him or he feeds off it but it looks like it's getting to him now.

"Gerwyn is a difficult man to work out. He's his own man, he's been used to top class sport before whereas other players haven't had a pro career prior to playing darts."