by James Dodd
PAUL Woodage believes that Gerwyn Price is the man to beat in 2021 after wiping the floor in the PDC Annual Awards.
Price, who won the World Championship at the start of January, picked up four awards on Monday night, including the PDPA Players’ Player of the Year
Woodage is the Chief News Writer for Darts World Magazine and says that accolade shows all the players know he’s number one.
“That’s what he’ll want. He’ll want that because it means his fellow peers have said he’s the best,” Woodage said.
“It’s hard to look past anyone else this year to see who’s been the best player.
“The darts players who vote – they might have different feelings of him personally – but they all come from the angle that they respect him as a darts player.
“They all know what he’s about. They’ll vote with their head and not their heart. It’s a no brainer.”
The Iceman also took home the Just Eat Fans’ Player of the Year.
Woodage thinks this proves the man from Markham is finally getting the support he deserves from spectators.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬 @JustEatUK 𝗙𝗮𝗻𝘀’ 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿… 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘄𝘆𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲
It was the one that you all voted for and it couldn’t really go anywhere else after his incredible 2020…
A second award of the night so far for Gerwyn Price 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/96pRnVmohW
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 25, 2021
“I think he was starting to win the fans over anyway. He’s like a Peter Manley kind of character – a pantomime villain.
“There is one or two that don’t like what he does or the way he is, but he’s box office. He makes you want to watch.
“He’s the guy you look for to see when he’s playing. You know something is going to happen. Plus, he’s a fantastic player.
“If he wasn’t as good as he is, there would be an issue. Everyone thinks he’s a brilliant player, he’s now proved it.
“There’s not that many that actually really hates him. They might dislike his antics but amongst real darts fans he’s probably quite popular. He’s a nice guy.”
Wales has seen a lot of success from Welsh darts players over the years; including the likes of Leighton Rees, Richie Burnett, Mark Webster, and Wayne Warren; who have all won the BDO World Darts Championship.
Woodage is happy for the Welsh people that enjoyed the triumph that took place last year.
“The fact that he won the World Cup was great. Aside from Gezzy getting to one in the world; he was also a brilliant player when he was one, two or three.
“It didn’t make a big difference to the Welsh people, who loved him anyway. Welsh people are probably happier about winning the World Cup.
“It’s great for Welsh darts. It’s a popular country, they love the darts, they always have done. (They have a) rich vein of history in darts. To finally have a World PDC Champion – it’s what they deserve.”
The other two awards that Price achieved were the Selco Player of the Year and ProTour Player of the Year, resulting to four in total.
Woodage emphasised the importance of Price for younger generations.
“You’ve got a lot of Welsh kids now that will want to play darts because they love Gezzy Price.”
The former rugby player is now back in action this weekend at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, where he will compete in the Ladbrokes Masters.