MARKHAM’S Gerwyn Price will be looking to break his William Hill World Darts Championship duck when he takes to the oche at Alexandra Palace on Friday evening.

The 31-year-old former Cross Keys rugby player is 19th seed for the most prestigious tournament of the PDC calendar and will go up against world number 60 Jonny Clayton in round one.

Price has enjoyed terrific success since swapping his boots for darts and has won a pair of Players Championship events this year to break into the top 32 in the rankings with £180,000 of prize money to his name.

‘The Iceman’ will be favourite to win his opener in London and should profit from having more experience under his belt than in his two previous outings at the packed-out Alexandra Palace.

In 2015 he was whitewashed 3-0 by Peter Wright, who is third seed this year, and in 2016 he suffered the same fate against Andrew Gilding.

Price tweeted: “Friday night can’t come quick enough, busting to get back on stage in the biggest event of the year.”

The Sky Sports-televised tournament starts tomorrow evening with number two seed Gary Anderson in action. Evening sessions start at 7pm.