Gerwyn Price crashes out of PDC World Championship with shock defeat to forklift driver after bold ‘nobody is beating me’ claim

Gerwyn Price has been knocked out of the PDC World Darts Championship with a shock second-round defeat.

The Welshman, who went into the tournament as ninth seed, simply had no answers for Dutchman Wesley Plaisier.

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Plaisier, who has a day job as a forklift driver, threw incredible darts as he secured a stunning 3-0 victory at Alexandra Palace.

The result means Price is the highest seed to have been knocked out of this year’s tournament.

As for Plaisier, he advances to the second round of the World Championship for the first time ever.

“I still can’t believe it, I’m so over the moon. My biggest victory ever,” Plaisier said in the immediate aftermath of the win.

“I don’t know how I did it, I’m happy I kept calm at the end. I was so nervous.

“I can’t explain it in words, it’s just so special. I thought I’d give him a hell of a match but I didn’t expect to win the match.

“Thank you to everyone who was here to make it more special… merry Christmas everyone!”

Price proved wrong

The 2021 champion’s shock defeat comes after he made the bold claim that he would win the Worlds this year.

Price was in good form during his first round victory over Adam Gawlas, averaging 96.44 as he won in straight sets.

“I am winning. Honestly, I’m not losing – nobody is beating me this year,” Price confidently said in his victory press conference. “I delete my social media before big tournaments and just get into my own little bubble.

“I believe in my own talent and own ability but if people are saying that [the winner of Littler vs Price wins the tournament], then fair play to them.

“I just believe that I’m going to win this tournament. I don’t care what the obstacles are in front of me. I know it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be very tough – whoever I play – but I’m definitely coming through every game.”

But this may not come as a shock to Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn, who told talkSPORT before the tournament started that there would be a number of surprise results in the early stages.

“There’s half a dozen players that on their day can give Luke Littler not only just a good game, but possibly a beating,” said Hearn.

“Although Littler is the short price favourite with the bookmakers, this is a sort of tournament that… it doesn’t give too many shots late on when the duration of the matches are longer.

“But in the first and second rounds, sometimes you get upsets. It would be a colossal upset for Littler to get beat early on, his draw is quite kind to him, I think. But there’s an awful lot of competition.

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“You’re talking Luke Humphries, on his day he’s unbeatable. [Michael] Van Gerwen is coming back to his best, you’ve got people out there… Gian van Veen won the European Championship, dangerous.

“You’ve got other Dutch players, I mean, the world’s playing darts, they’re coming at us from all angles and it’s just brilliant news for the sport and the fans that come to watch the best of the best.”

Price is not the first seed to suffer a shock defeat early doors with Ross Smith the first major casualty as he was knocked out in the first round against Swedish debutante Andreas Harrysson.

Meanwhile, Mike De Decker lost to Kenyan debutante David Munyua in one of the World Championship’s greatest upsets of all time.

Cameron Menzies was sent packing in the first round by 20-year-old talent Charlie Manby, with the end of the match seeing the Scot punch a table in anger.

And on Saturday, 2023 champion Michael Smith lost his second round match 3-1 to Dutchman Neils Zonneveld.