"Frail" Gerwyn Price resorted to wearing ear-defenders on stage to send a message to the Ally Pally crowd, according to Wayne Mardle.
Try as he might to blot out the noise, the Iceman crashed out of the Cazoo PDC World Championship quarter-finals in a shock 5-1 defeat by German giant Gabriel Clemens. This traumatic loss will knock Price off his perch as world No1 – and the astonishing sight of a former world champion clamping industrial ear defenders over his lugholes was unprecedented.
Sky Sports pundit Mardle said: “Gerywn was toying with wearing ear defenders in earlier rounds, which shows there's a bit of frailty there. Obviously he is feeling the pressure and not feeling confident.
READ MORE: Gerwyn Price threatens to boycott World Championship after ear-defenders carnage
“When you put on these over-elaborate ear defenders, you are doing it for the crowd – you are saying 'This is me saying to you: Just shut up, keep quiet, keep out of it.'
“But even with earplugs and ear-defenders, they were still booing him. It didn't make any difference. The bottom line is that Clemens was the better player, almost from start to finish, absolutely amazing.”
In an emotional outburst on Instagram afterwards, Price threatened to boycott playing at Ally Pally in future because he is fed up with the hostility.
Was Price wrong to use the ear-defenders? Let us know in the comments section.
He wrote: "So frustrating you play all year round preparing for this one tournament. So gutted I wasn't let play but good luck everyone left in. Not sure I will ever play in this event again."
Shellshocked fans at Alexandra Palace responded to a desperate gimmick by chanting: “What the f***ing hell is that?” Price had been given permission by the Professional Darts Corporation to use ear protectors before his third round win against Raymond van Barneveld.
But it was still a remarkable image, in a building swarming with fancy-dress comedians, to see a top player come to the party looking like one of Doctor Who's feared Cybermen adversaries.
Price brought out the cans out when he was 3-1 down and dispensed with them after only one set, settling for airline-style earplugs instead, but by then he was so far behind he needed snookers.
Among unconventional accessories in major professional sport, only Aussie cricket legend Dennis Lillee marching out to take guard with an aluminium bat in a Test match has been more extraordinary.
Apart from dropping the first set, Clemens – whose 99.94 average matched another Ashes legend, Don Bradman – was the vastly superior player.
With more than 600 German fans in the stalls roaring their man on, Price must have felt as if he was playing away from home. At first he showed few signs of nerves, taking out the opening set at a 107.36 average with 140 and 110 checkouts.
Then, inexplicably, the Iceman melted amid the wall of noise. Dropping his darts, shaking his head and doubles going astray, his response to going 3-1 down was to bring out the dustbin lids in an effort to smother the racket, but it was the futile gesture of a beaten man.
Clemens, 39, said: "When I saw them, I thought I knew I would win the set. Gerwyn didn't play his best match."
The 6ft 5in former locksmith was a 250-1 outsider before the tournament and he had never been beyond the last 16 here. Clemens now meets Michael Smith in Monday's (January 2) semi-finals.
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