Gerwyn Price told Grand Slam of Darts rival 'I'm here to smash you up'

Gerwyn Price has disclosed that he warned his friend James Wade he would "smash him up" before defeating him 5-0 at the Grand Slam of Darts. The pair faced each other in Wolverhampton on Sunday, temporarily setting aside their close friendship off the oche.

Following a 5-4 defeat to Ricky Evans in his opening match earlier in the weekend, Price desperately needed a victory to maintain his chances of reaching the knockout stages and keeping alive his ambitions of claiming the £150,000 top prize. The Welsh star delivered in stunning style.

Price produced a dominant whitewash of Wade and hinted that his pre-match words may have affected his rival. Speaking after the victory, Price revealed: "I said to him - we were practising backstage - literally this is what I said, he said 'all the best'.

"I said, 'James, I'm your friend but, honestly, I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to smash you up'. I don't know, maybe that hurt him a bit. I'm not sure."

The 40-year-old continued: "It was a tough one against Wadie - he's a great friend of mine, and whoever came through, I said to him we've got a good chance of going on and winning this tournament.

"So yeah, it was a tough one, but I'm glad I came through. Sometimes I prefer that pressure, you know, when you know if you lose, you're going home.

"In a knockout situation I seem to find my best stuff, and yeah, I played well today. James missed a couple of chances, but I was clear to go."

Wade has been knocked out of the tournament after a surprising 5-4 loss to Switzerland's Stefan Bellmont in his first match. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Luke Humphries delivered an impressive nine-darter to defeat Michael Smith on Sunday.

Humphries was one of six players, including reigning champion Luke Littler, who secured their spots in the last 16 with a game to spare. "It's the weirdest game of darts I've been involved in," confessed Humphries after his 5-3 triumph.

"I didn't feel good and couldn't hit a treble. It all felt like hard work and I thought the game was gone. To then go on and hit a nine-darter, that's why darts is one of the best sports in the world. It was quite an incredible game to be part of, and I'm still flabbergasted from what just happened!"

Rising star Beau Greaves can no longer qualify after suffering a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat to Gary Anderson. "She's brilliant, isn't she?" Anderson said about the 21-year-old.

"I've pulled out just about every stop that I've had in the bag tonight to win that game. She is going to cause so much trouble next year on the circuit.

"She is by far [the best female player] until somebody else comes along, but I would say that. I know Fallon (Sherrock) is a great player, and Lisa (Ashton), but Beau is a wee bit different."