Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price will meet in the semi-finals of the 2019 Grand Slam of Darts on Sunday after winning quarter-final ties against their rivals on Saturday in Wolverhampton.
There was to be no revenge for Gary Anderson as defending champion Price repeated his 2018 final win, this time by a more comfortable 16-9 scoreline, while Van Gerwen inflicted a crushing 16-6 defeat on Adrian Lewis.
Before the Price v Anderson match-up there was speculation of a possible repeat of the drama from the decider a year ago but the Welshman managed to keep his emotions in check and power through to the final day of action.
The opening session proved crucial as Price punished Anderson's nine missed doubles to race into a 5-0 lead, a gap that Anderson was never able to fully close.
A change of darts for Anderson did little to stem the tide as Price went on to open up an 8-2 lead and take full control of the encounter.
It was only the second meeting between the pair since their contentious clash in 2018 and Anderson wasn’t about to throw in the towel as he won the next session 4-1 to close the gap and trail 9-6.
Just when it looked as if Anderson was working his way back in to the match, he missed three darts at double to close Price’s advantage to two and was duly punished by the Welshman.
The celebrations from Price began become more prominent and his performance seemed to improve as he kept Anderson at arm’s length for the remainder of the match before eventually sealing the win.
“I tried to keep my cool for as long as I could because I knew I had to focus but I’ve got a lot of energy in me and just had to let a little out at the end," said Price.
“Gary is a great player and a two-time World Champion so I completely understand why the crowd were on his side but they were great today and I have to say thank you for that.
“Gary was edgy at the start and so was I, to be honest I was overwhelmed to be 5-0 up. At 8-2 up I felt more under pressure and I said to myself ‘right I need to win this now.
“It wasn't the best of games, I didn’t play my best but I'm happy I won. I didn't even think about last year’s final, that was nothing to do with how I played."
In the second quarter-final of the evening, Van Gerwen raced out the blocks and took a 4-1 lead into the first interval and increased his dominance by moving 8-2 clear, including a showcase 132 finish before the players left the stage for a second time.
A brief period of resistance followed from two-time World Champion Lewis but an average of 86.28 was nowhere near enough to compete with the 103.05 from the Dutchman.
Following his comprehensive success, Van Gerwen was quick to turn his attention to tomorrow’s semi-final with Price, who is yet to claim a win over the world number one in 19 matches.
“He [Gerwyn Price] has been getting closer to me in some games but close isn’t good enough it’s as simple as that," Van Gerwen declared.
“I’ve got more in the tank for the match with Gerwyn and I’m going to throw everything at him tomorrow.
“I know of all the players left I have the most talent by a mile, so if I play well and don’t make any mistakes then I will be the champion, simple.”
The 2019 Boylesports Grand Slam of Darts will conclude on Sunday as the two semi-finals take place during the afternoon session before a winner will be crowned in the evening.
The ninth and final day of action will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.
Saturday November 16
Quarter-Finals x2
Gerwyn Price 16-9 Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen 16-6 Adrian Lewis
Sunday November 17
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright v Glen Durrant
Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Final
Van Gerwen/Price v Wright/Durrant