PDC world arrows: Gerwyn Price exits in ear cannons and may not return | PDC World Championship

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World number one Jeroen Price’s bizarre attempts to hold off the raucous Alexandra Palace crowd by wearing ear defenders failed to have the desired effect as he walked out on the PDC World Championships and said he might never play the event again.

The 37-year-old Welshman lost 3-1 in the quarter-finals to Gabriel Clemens when he donned the accessory in an apparent move to dampen the noise coming from offstage.

But that didn’t stop him from losing the fifth set and when he came back wearing slimmer earplugs, which he obviously took some time to practice with, the result was similar as Clemens cruised to a 5-1 victory to become the first German to win. You reach the final four.

“I played my game, I just focused on my game,” Price told Sky Sports after his defeat when asked about the ear defenders.

Later, he wrote on his Instagram story: “So frustrating that you play all year in preparation for this one tournament. So I didn’t quit playing but good luck everyone. Not sure I will play in this event again.”

Three-time world championship runner-up Wayne Mardle said Price’s actions were of a man who showed weakness. He told Sky Sports: “The situation with Price is that he had him with two ear defenders on him before this game and that was something he was considering doing.”

“It shows there is a little bit of vulnerability there. I get why he did it, he wanted to make a detailed show.”

🗣 “I have no words. It’s amazing.”

Hear thoughts from Gabriel Clemens, who continues to forge new paths at Ally Pally after his stunning 5-1 success against world number one Gerwyn Price… pic.twitter.com/myGxGB9W93

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 1, 2023

This isn’t the first controversy Price has been involved in during the tournament. Sky Sports had to apologize to viewers this week after he made a gesture that could have been interpreted as offensive to disabled people during his win over Jose de Souza.

Michael van Gerwen’s bid for a fourth world title remains on track after he swept Chris Dobbie 5-0 to advance to the semi-finals with Dimitri van den Bergh, who was a 5-3 winner over Johnny Clayton earlier in the day to become the first Belgian to reach the this stage. Last year’s finalist Michael Smith beat Stephen Bunting by the same score and will meet Clemence on Monday.

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