Gerwyn Price

Gerwyn Price calls for PDC World Darts Championship to be held in different countries to make it fairer for non-English players

By Sporting Life

Darts

Sun January 02, 2022 · 4y ago

Gerwyn Price believes the PDC World Darts Championship should be staged in different countries so the English players don't always get an 'unfair' advantage.

The Welshman's hopes of defending his world title ended at the quarter-final stage as home favourite Michael Smith defeated him 5-4 in a thriller that also featured his first ever televised nine-darter.

Not for the first time at this year's tournament, Price had to try and keep his cool despite continued booing and abusive chants from some sections of the Alexandra Palace crowd but during the fourth leg of the eighth set, he paused mid-throw to ask for a heckler to be removed.

Once play resumed, the Iceman went on to earn two match darts, but failed to land either as Smith forced a decider and subsequently won.

Price posted a one-word statement on his Instagram story after the defeat that simply said: "Cheats" while he later wrote "Absolutely gutted to go out in the last eight of the World Championships having worked so hard the last few months, so proud of myself for just being me and playing the best I can even without all the hurdles in front of me. I will get stronger, I will come back better, I will practice harder, I will sacrifice more, I will succeed, I will do everything it takes to be the best. I will be back. Class is permanent."

The former rugby player then wrote later on Sunday: "It's only fair if the World Championships are played in each country. Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England, Europe. Next year in Wales please."

Price wasn't the only player to be subject to booing by the pro-English crowd, with Scotland's Gary Anderson, Alan Soutar and Willie Borland also having to overcome the fans and their opponent.

Sky Sports were previously forced to mute their coverage of Price's match against Kim Huybrechts amid X-rated chanting from the crowd earlier this week, while similar chants were heard during his win over Dirk van Duijvenbode 4-1 in the last 16.

Price's love-hate relationship with fans all began at the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts when he beat Gary Anderson in a controversial final while at the recent World Grand Prix in October he branded some fans pathetic while on stage during a post-match interview.