GERWYN Price won his Welsh showdown with Jonny Clayton to set up a mouth-watering World Matchplay quarter-final against Dimitri Van den Bergh.

World number one Price made a statement of intent in front of 2,000 fans in Blackpool on Tuesday when he demolished his compatriot 11-3.

He will now tussle with reigning champion Van den Bergh, who impressively beat Dave Chisnall 11-8, on Thursday night.

Price made it through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015 as he ran out a convincing 11-3 winner in the battle between Wales' World Cup winners.

The 36-year-old, who had suffered four consecutive first round exits at the World Matchplay before this year, laid down a marker to the rest of the field by blowing away Premier League champion Clayton.

A hotly-anticipated contest got off to a flying start, as Price setting the tone with a 180 before neither player missed a double attempt in the opening five legs.

Clayton levelled at 3-3, before succumbing to a relentless onslaught from a fired-up World Champion, who landed checkouts of 108 and 102 on his way to reeling off eight legs without reply.

"I put Jonny under a lot of pressure from the start," said Price. "He got back to 3-3 but I put him under the cosh from that point onwards and I was clinical on my doubles.

"I need to up my scoring game, and if I hit my doubles then nobody beats me. If I can do that and be clinical then I'll win this tournament.

"It was a big margin but I put Jonny under a lot of pressure. He missed a couple of opportunities but I was there to punish him.

"I'm happy to win. Jonny is a great player and friend and it's nice to get one over on a Welsh companion. There's no friends when you're on stage and you're up there to do a job."

A thrilling contest between Van den Bergh and Chisnall saw the Belgian smash the record for 180s in a second round tie at the World Matchplay.

The Belgian hit 14 maximums, shattering the previous record of 11 set by Chisnall in his 2017 loss to Alan Norris.

Van den Bergh is relishing his clash with Price: "I'm playing the world number one and world champion, and I'm the current reigning World Matchplay champion so it's going to be a fantastic game and I'm going to throw everything I can against Gezzy.

"I hope I can step up another level, especially with my finishing. I'm feeling good and the game against Dave has given me a lot of confidence.

"I'm going to give 100 percent and I'll never back down until the last double is hit."