Gerwyn Price: "I wore the ear defenders once and I won't be wearing them again" I The SSE Arena in Belfast is the first of 17 host venues for the Premier League on Thursday - live on Sky Sports - with the Play-Offs returning to The O2 in London on Thursday May 25
Thursday 2 February 2023 12:33, UK
Gerwyn Price admits he will have to "grin and bear" with whatever comes his way after finding out he will not be permitted to wear ear defenders under new PDC regulations.
The 37-year-old stunned the Alexandra Palace crowd by coming out in ear defenders for the fifth set of his shock World Championship quarter-final defeat to Germany's Gabriel Clemens last month.
Price has since been banned from wearing them in future events after the PDC amended its rules.
I'm not a fan of in-ear plugs that Mervyn King wears. I've just got to grin and bear with whatever comes my way like I have the last couple of years and just play darts.
Under new regulations, there is a revised wording of the rule which says: "Players are not permitted to wear earphones, headphones or headphone-type ear defenders during the throw at the bull prior to the match or during matchplay."
The use of in-ear ear plugs is permitted, though, with Mervyn King a prime example of those who use them.
Ahead of the start of this year's Premier League in Belfast on Thursday night, Price, who threatened never to return to Alexandra Palace after his experience, said: "I wore the ear defenders once and I won't be wearing them again. It's best left at that if I'm honest with you.
"I'm not a fan of in-ear plugs that Mervyn King wears. I've just got to grin and bear with whatever comes my way like I have the last couple of years, and just play darts.
"I'm here to play darts. I'm here to do the best I can, whatever is thrown at me. That's all I can do, so looking forward to playing in Belfast and Cardiff next week. Hopefully I can reward the crowd again with some good darts and hopefully one or two nine-darters as well.
"I want to do well in the Premier League right now. I'm here to win. Right here, right now, this is where I play well."
Price is part of the Premier League's eight-man cast for 2023, including world champion Michael Smith, reigning Premier League winner Michael van Gerwen, Peter Wright, Jonny Clayton, Nathan Aspinall, Dimitri Van den Bergh and newly-crowned Masters champion Chris Dobey.
The Welshman, who is not the biggest fan of the current format, said: "The format is like any other tournament from the quarter-finals onwards. It's everything else that comes with it. I think it just takes a lot out of players knowing that you have to play Pro Tours, Europeans. It's difficult to play in that format when you have got to travel every single week.
And discussing the list of players taking part in this year's tournament, 'The Iceman' added: "The PDC pick their players on their own reasons. As long as I'm in there I don't really care what goes on around me to be honest with you."
The new Premier League Darts season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday February 2, the first of 17 individual venues to host the 2023 Premier League, which will be staged on Thursday nights from February to May - live on Sky Sports!
