Daryl Gurney has explained why he confronted referee Kirk Bevens during his Grand Slam of Darts clash against Karel Sedlacek.
The 39-year-old, from Northern Ireland, was eliminated from Group E on Sunday after suffering a 5-3 defeat to Czech opponent Sedlacek, who finally put his opponent to bed after eleven double 20 attempts.
Moments after the game-winning dart was thrown, a frustrated Gurney made a beeline for referee Bevens, with eyewitnesses describing the world number 24 as "clearly agitated" during the heated incident.
Gurney eventually walked away and could be seen shaking his head as he walked off the WV Active Aldersley stage in Wolverhampton. He refused to take part in any post-match interviews, according to Darts News.
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It was suggested that Gurney's actions could land him in trouble with the PDC, who are notoriously strict when it comes to player conduct and respect for officials.
Now, Gurney has addressed the situation in an interview with Oche180.
The two-time major champion claims he was merely frustrated with the abuse he received from those in the crowd at Wolverhampton, and addressed those concerns with Bevens.
“I was getting some abuse in the crowd. I hoped that Kirk would have heard it. It was just verbals," he explained.
“I didn’t say anything. It looks like I’ve got a bad face on me. It was because I was struggling to hear him because of the loud music. We were speaking in each other’s ear. I asked him politely,
"I wasn’t rude to him. I said I hoped you picked up on it. He said ‘I couldn’t hear it’. I said ‘that’s fine’.
Gurney continued: “Because it looked like we had a long conversation. People just want to write stories. I would never be disrespectful to one of the callers because they are the best in the world."
"They make our job easier and always help us out," he added. "It was nothing bad.”
On Sunday, a report from The Sun claimed the PDC were not aware of the situation involving Gurney on stage.
Gurney fell to a 5-1 defeat against Luke Littler in his final Group E game on Tuesday. “Daryl was there and thereabouts tonight, but now it’s down to the business end," said Littler after the match.
“I always enjoy the longer format, and hopefully I can produce my best darts on Thursday.”
Topics: Darts
Jack Kenmare