GWENT’S Gerwyn Price admitted he was relieved to return to winning ways by beating Rob Cross to lift the Nordic Darts Masters title in Copenhagen on Saturday, writes Andrew Penman.

Price raced into a 4-0 lead in the final in the Danish capita and went into the first break 5-1 up.

Cross pulled back to 5-4 but Price was too strong and claimed the victory 8-5 to seal his first title of 2024 after a difficult few months for the 2021 world champion.

“I needed to win this. Rob’s a great friend of mine, I always practice with him, and he beat me last week, so this gives me a little bit of bragging rights,” said the 39-year-old from Markham.

“It’s a bit of relief, more than anything. It’s a monkey off my back and it’s a good boost of confidence for me.

“I’m just trying my heart out to win a tournament,” added Price.

“I’ve been struggling to get over the winning line and trying too hard, if I’m honest.

“I’m just glad I played well at the back end of the game. I slipped up in the middle, but I’ve got another trophy in the bag and I can look forward now.”

Price was beaten in the Nordic Darts Masters final last year by Peter Wright and lost the final of the US Darts Masters in New York to Cross last weekend.

There was no Luke Littler or Michael van Gerwen in Denmark, with both opting not to play.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he added. “I’ve been playing some fantastic darts and just not getting the results. That happened last week, and I thought it was going to happen again.

“I just need to stop being so negative in my head and missing loads of doubles.

“I really wanted to win this one and have a good few days off before the Europeans in two weeks.

“I can chill out now, have two weeks off and then be back at it flat out in two weeks.

“I was beating myself up, but now I’m really looking forward to the next six months.

“I think I deserved this title, and I don’t think everyone can live with me when I’m scoring.”

Cross added: “He deserved that. For me it wasn’t meant to be. The darts aren’t bad.”

Cross had beaten world number one Luke Humphries in the semi-final while Price overcame Michael Smith.