JOHN LOWE has accused Gerwyn Price of turning darts into a “pantomime” by wearing noise-cancelling ear defenders.
Price, 37, wore the headphones for just one set of his 5-1 quarter-final defeat to German Gabriel Clemens on New Year’s Day.
The Iceman used the contraption to block out the constant abuse he gets on annual basis from the Ally Pally fans.
And in since-deleted Instagram posts, the annoyed Welshman has threatened to boycott the 2024 tournament.
The images of the ear protectors went viral and divided opinion within the sport.
Fans in hysterics as Price wears EAR DEFENDERS to block boos but still loses
Now Lowe, a three-time world darts champion and adversary of the Crafty Cockney Eric Bristow, has had his say.
And Old Stoneface – who played in a completely different era of darts – believes Price has reaped what he sowed over the past four years of tension with him and the paying public.
Lowe, 77, said: “My first reaction when he came out with them on in the fifth set was to smile, a joke I thought.
“Then I realised he was for real, it was intentional. He had managed to turn the biggest event in World Darts into a pantomime.
“Then it all went wrong, the defenders kept slipping on his head, they only lasted for that one set. The next set he lost 3-0. The joke was over for Gerwyn.
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“The player who said he didn’t care what the crowd thought, or what they did, they had quite clearly won.
“The real truth is he did not play well enough to bother Gabriel Clemens after the first set, the German out-classed him.
“At the Grand Slam in 2019, Gerwyn openly said that two players didn’t like it up them.
“He should have realised both those top players had many loyal supporters in the audience. The paying fans do not forget.
Price may boycott Ally Pally after exit as he blocks boos with ear defenders
“Clemens had massive support from his German fans at Ally Pally.
“Price was outclassed on stage, outnumbered in the audience, what he did have was his own Karma at fault.”
John Part, a three-time darts world champion, was watching the action from his hotel room as he recovered from a brief illness and was not on Sky Sports commentary duties.
But he joked that he thought the medication he had been prescribed by medics had made hallucinate when Price emerged on stage with the ear bins!
The Canadian star, 56, said: “I was stunned. I was already feeling low with a bit of a bug. That kind of woke me up a little. I thought I’d taken too many drugs.
“I really didn’t know what was going on. I never expected to see anything like that.
“I think it was a strategy. If it was a strategy, that backfired. It was never going to work.
“In fact it was more of a statement thing for him, I believe. I don’t think it should ever have happened.”
