A ‘gutted’ Gerwyn Price issued a passionate plea to the PDC to remove Rotterdam from the Premier League calendar.
The Welshman lost 6-3 to Nathan Aspinall in their quarter-final encounter on night 11 of the Premier League at the 16,426-capacity Rotterdam Ahoy.
Price bemoaned the conditions inside the large venue and claimed there was a breeze on stage which re-directed his arrows.
In a furious statement on Instagram, Price also claimed the conditions weren’t the same for both players.
“Gutted for myself, gutted for everyone that supports me, I’m so sorry but this week was pointless and we move to next week, darts were blowing everywhere and after leg one which was lucky I knew it’s pointless,” Price said.
“And where I was in the league after vital points it’s not what I wanted, hopefully @officialpdc will now stop coming here and look for alternative venues, not good for the players, not good for the fans, and not good for people that like a bet.
“Onto next week where we get to play in decent conditions.
“And if u (sic) think it’s the same for both players your (sic) as daft as you look.”
Price’s complaints about the Rotterdam Ahoy came just days after three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen told Live Darts TV he had raised the issue of drafty conditions with PDC chief executive Matt Porter.
“After last year, I had a good chat with Matt Porter about it because, in my opinion, I think it took too long,” Van Gerwen said.
“But they (PDC) couldn’t put their finger on why it’s like this.
“You can feel the draft. At least they’re doing something about it.
@gerwynpriceiceman180 – InstagramThe Welshman hopes the PDC will take action next year[/caption]
@gerwynpriceiceman180 – InstagramHe also claimed the conditions weren’t the same for his rival Aspinall[/caption]
“Sometimes you can’t put your finger on it. It’s tough, but at least they’re working on it.”
The Rotterdam Ahoy has hosted a Premier League night since 2016 but given Price’s complaints, the venue’s days may be numbered.
It was Price who took the lead with a 15-dart leg which he sealed with a tidy 112 checkout after Aspinall missed double 20 twice.
However, Aspinall rallied back and won six of the next eight legs.
‘The Asp’ even landed a stunning 170 checkout, the highest available and commonly known as the ‘Big Fish’, to seal the third leg.
Aspinall finished with an average of 97.02 while Price averaged 94.19.
However, Aspinall could not repeat his heroics in Rotterdam from last year as he lost 6-2 to Chris Dobey in the semi-finals.
Earlier in the evening, there was a major shock for home favourite Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals as he suffered a shock 6-5 defeat to Stephen Bunting, who didn’t claim his first Premier League win since night nine.
Luke Littler also picked up a 6-5 win in his quarter-final clash against Rob Cross, as ‘The Nuke’ sealed victory with an epic 145 checkout.
