Welshman has had a poor year but says he has refound his spark with the world championship about to start

Gerwyn Price is giving a tour of his man cave. Built last year in the basement of his home in Markham, Caerphilly, it features a championship size snooker table, a pool table, armchairs upholstered from his former darts shirts, its own kitchen and bar, and a cinema room with starlit planetarium ceiling. “It’s a good place to get away when I need an hour to myself,” he says. “Probably play snooker more than darts. Which might be the problem!”

Highest break? “On that table? I’ve had a 96. Highest ever, 108. I won’t do a Shaun Murphy and lie about having a 147!” Price cackles, referencing the snooker player’s unverified and much ridiculed claim to have once hit a nine-dart finish in the pub.