Michael van Gerwen on Gerwyn Price wearing ear defenders: ‘In his position, with how big he is in darts, I wouldn’t have done that’ | Darts News

Gerwyn Price wore ear defenders to block out the vocal Ally Pally crowd during the 5-1 drubbing by Gabriel Clemens in the World Darts Championship; Michael van Gerwen said Price was “going through a tough time” while Wayne Mardle said the Iceman’s actions showed a rare sign of “weakness”.

Michael van Gerwen says Gerwyn Price “wouldn’t put himself in that position” after the world No.1 gave him an ear defender during his heartbreaking loss to Gabriel Clemens in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Price wore large ear defenders for the fifth set of a 5-1 drubbing on Sunday night to drown out boos from the crowd, and later wrote on Instagram that he was unsure whether he would play in the World Championships again.

Van Gerwen – who brushed aside Chris Dobey 5-0 on the night to remain a four-time world champion – said he would never do what Price did but had sympathy for the player who was “going through a tough time”.

Will Price play in the World Championships again?

Title favorite Van Gerwen said of 2021 winner Price: “In his position, how big the darts are, I wouldn’t do it, but he’s going through a tough time.

“[Wearing ear defenders] has never done in darts before and also does not need it, but in difficult times so he thinks about.

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Wayne Mardle said Price’s decision to wear ear defenders was a sign that the Iceman was under pressure.

“He shouldn’t have put himself in that position, but unfortunately darts.”

Sky Sports Darts pundit Wayne Mardle said Price’s actions showed a rare sign of “frailty” and hoped that Iceman’s suggestion that he could ever return to Ally Pally was just a “knee-jerk reaction” to heavy defeat.

Price reeled off consecutive ton-plus finishes en route to waltzing though the opening set but then lost five in a row as Clemens, the first German to the semi-finals of the World Championship, an average of 99.94 to the Welshman 94.58.

Mardle: Price obviously felt pressured

Mardle said: “Apparently Gerwyn has had an earful with him before this game.

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Price took out for a ton-plus checkouts in the first set against Gabriel Clemens – before being thrashed by the German

“The fact that he’s been there for a week or so shows that there are weaknesses there, but he’s not fragile – he’s getting things done and taking things very quickly.

“Usually he does things well, but he’s feeling the pressure and now he’s not 100 per cent comfortable.

“Mentally, he can’t be as strong as he used to be. He’s one of the most mentally strong darts players I know.

“I think he’s gone down in the last few months and maybe it’s because he’s not at his best, maybe he’s a bit fragile. Gerwyn went back after the first set and couldn’t find anything, which was strange.

“I hope so [saying he might not play at Ally Pally again] just a knee jerk reaction

“When you put over-elaborate ear defenders on they’re not for you, it’s for the crowd. It’s, ‘this is what I’m saying to you, shut up, shut up, let’s get out of it’.

“People in the media are telling me he’s been training with ear defenders, so I don’t know if he’s delaying – but I find it strange that he would go to great lengths to show people he doesn’t care what he’s doing. I think.”

‘Van Gerwen looks a million bucks’

In stark contrast to Price, Van Gerwen went through the quarter-finals with just three legs when he destroyed debutant Dobey in the quarter-finals.

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Mardle says Michael van Gerwen is confident after beating Chris Dobey 5-0 at Ally Pally

Mardle added: “The MVGs are fantastic, they look like a million bucks.

“He flows and plays with a freedom that you don’t see a lot of players play. He’s not at the peak of Van Gerwen but he’s better than we’ve seen in the last two or three years.

“It would take something strange for him not to win this tournament. He looks very comfortable.”

Watch the PDC World Darts Championship semi-final – Gabriel Clemens vs Michael Smith followed by Michael van Gerwen vs Dimitri Van den Bergh – live on Sky Sports Darts from 19.30 on Saturday.